Old Endeavours, New Problems
by RedHairedMermaid
Summary: Jim's training at the academy has ended for the term but his intent on going home is interrupted when there is an upsurge of pirate activity and he gets swept along for the fight. He's put to the test as he encounters adventure, old friends, and a girl.
1. Showtime

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any parts of Treasure Planet; Jim Hawkins; Captain Amelia, Long John Silver; Interstellar Academy etc. The characters Ralph and Emma however, are mine.

Please read and review. Constructive criticism is welcomes, though there's no need to be rude about it. Enjoy!

Two years had passed since Jim had arrived at the Interstellar Academy. He had started almost immediately after his return from his voyage aboard the 'Legacy'. The voyage that took him to a planet never before truly believed to have existed and profoundly changed his life. Though in truth it wasn't the voyage that has changed him but the old cyborg he met. Jim hadn't spoken of old Silver since he arrived back on his own planet but he felt Silver's presence watching him all the same. Some kind of weird form of guardian angel in the stars.

Since his arrival at the Academy Jim had been subject to hard and intense training. He had learnt about ships navigation, galactic highways and solar systems, safety procedures in every circumstance, and of course mechanics. All too frequently a ship's engine would be broken or damaged and to know how to make emergency repairs could save a whole crew's lives. The academy was described by the recruits as a cross between boarding school, boot camp, and a holiday; adventure holiday anyway. However despite the hard work and tiresome days, Jim loved it. The place had become his sanctuary. A place where he could finally get praise for doing things he was good at, find solitude when it was desired at the top of the masts of the large training ships and also interact with other young guys and girls who shared a similar passion for adventure.

Unsurprisingly over the years Jim had made a reputation for himself in being able to fix and invent things from scratch. His recommendation from Captain Amelia had soon become known around the academy and knowledge about his antics on the voyage aboard the 'Legacy' was also commonly known. Of course the part about him befriending a dangerous pirate and nearly dying several times was left out.

To his resentment the reputation also produced a nickname for him: Stellar Hands. It was mostly people outside his circle of friends who referred to him in such a way so Jim tended to shrug it off with indifference. Still, didn't mean he had to like it.

For the time being however Jim was preparing for his latest assignment. Exam time had arrived at the academy and Jim was undertaking the biggest challenge so far. The practical exam was to sail a ship, with a crew around the galaxy in three days. It was possible. The test had been used for years as a final preparation for the young recruits. The course took them through nebulas, several solar systems and Jim and the recruits had to sail next to a shooting star for at least five thousand miles. Shooting stars were common upon the test course, and ironically the moving stars were the only predictable things on the course. The solar systems revolved at different speeds around their respective suns causing the sailing route to change all the time.

Jim was barely able to contain his excitement. Since his voyage before with Captain Amelia he had been itching to get back in a ship and sail the galaxy. Even more so since this time he was captaining the ship and crew. The examiner would be aboard the ship with them as well to observe that they fulfilled their objectives and to observe how they handled the situations, but he would have nothing to do with the running of the ship. He was only to intervene if it looked like there was going to be a catastrophe unable to be solved by the recruits. But Jim was sure he wasn't going to let this voyage go awry, not when it was him and eleven of his crewmates whose future was on the line.

The other recruits of the academy had gathered at the launch site. Two ships were competing against each other; a race of sorts. The 'race' between the two ships was the highlight of the end of term, even for those who weren't involved. It didn't have any effect on the outcome of the exam, the 'winners' not getting any extra credit, but it made the exam more fun for the participants. That and it allowed for the other members of the academy to do some secrets bets as to who would win. Under the nose of the professors of course.

Climbing aloft the sails to check that the rigging was secure Jim was smiling. Anticipation paced through him. Down below the rest of the crew did last minute checks, not wanting anything to go wrong before they had even left port. The rest of the academy was beginning to get restless as the time for launch crew closer.

Leaning down, a hand hanging onto a rope Jim called down,

"Hey Ralph! We all secure?"

"Secure as we'll ever be," The reply yelled back up.

The smile returned and Jim's eyes stared at the distant sky, "Showtime."

The two teams lined up on the platform. A speech was being made by the president of the academy on the procedure of the exam and when the deadline for the return was. He was speaking towards the gathered congregation but the words were really meant for the team members. Not that they were listening. All could be seen eying their ships, eager to get started. A few took glances towards the other ship as well, trying to suss out if they had any advantages. The answer was no, the two ships had been deliberately made exactly the same for the exam, but as was always muttered by the professors, 'just in case'.

Pulling his eyes away from his ship Jim looked across at the opposing team. He knew of all of them even if he wasn't friendly with all of them. He stopped scanning them when he noticed one of them was looking back at him. A girl who looked remotely like Captain Amelia. She had similar feline features; longer pointed ears, a slight sharpness to her teeth and flat nose. She smirked at him, her eyes holding what seemed to be a challenge. The contact was brief and the two of them quickly turned their attention back to the speech.

"Good luck to both teams."

The president finished his speech to a quick and light applause from the crowd. Jim doubted whether any of them had been listening to what he was saying either. Everyone was raring for the launch to begin.

"Well recruits, the time has come to truly show what your worth," Captain Amelia stood at the head of the two lines, hands clasped behind her back as usual. "Make us proud and try not to come back with too many fatalities. We would all like to go home as soon as possible, it being end of term and all." Her strong British accent echoed around Jim's ears and an unstoppable smile crossed his face, knowing her next words. "Good luck. Man your stations."

With that the crowd cheered and the two teams dispersed towards their respective ships. Climbing up towards the helm Jim glanced over his shoulder noticing Captain Amelia speaking to the girl he had made eye contact with a few minutes earlier. Both held their hands behind their backs and had tall postures. Their exchange was brief and as the girl sprinted off Amelia turned to look at Jim. Her hand raised and she gave him a short salute. Jim nodded in response, before returning to the helm. Ralph was waiting beside the wheel.

"This is going to be interesting," Ralph said.

"This is what we've been waiting for. Finally a chance to show what we're really made of," Jim responded, placing his hand on the helm.

"About time…"

A new man suddenly arrived on deck, looking every inch authoritative. The examiner. Jim and Ralph glanced him over once with their eyes before having their attention grabbed by a yell from above.

"Countdown to launch!" The loud voice echoed across the ship, a similar call emitting from the other ship seconds later.

Jim looked up to the top of the mast where Emma was stood. Nodding he gripped onto the helm and repeated his previous words,

"Showtime."


	2. Storm's a' Brewin' Part One

_Storm's a' Brewin' -Part one_

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own any part of Treasure Planet: Jim Hawkins, planets that features in the film, characters etc. OC though however are mine: Ralph, Emma and Bill._

_The chapter is a bit long so I decided to cut it into two parts, this being part one. I didn't want people to be put off by reeealy long chapters so I cut it. Once again please read and review. I like to know what you think about the story and constructive criticism is welcome. Though like I said, no need to be rude if you do have comments._

_Enjoy! _

Jim had left another member of the crew Bill, at the helm while he climbed along the rigging. They all had to interchange between stations to show that they knew sufficient knowledge of all aspects of maintaining a ship. Though as Captain of the ship for the exam Jim had to take control of the wheel should any obstacles or problems arise.

It was the second day and they were making fast progress. They had passed the other ship the day before. Though the two ships sailed along the same interstellar test route they couldn't be side by side. Therefore the course had been split into two halfway through the first day. Since the two ships went in opposite directions Jim hadn't seen anymore of the other team, which he took as a good sign. If they came anywhere into his line of vision it would be a fairly clear message that one of them was extremely off course.

The examiner had spoken to them the previous afternoon after the ships had departed from each other and Jim's ship had emerged into a period of peaceful space. He had explained once again the skills that had to be shown to pass the test. At the moment he was sitting at the stern of the ship, a position where he could see everyone. It had unnerved Jim, having the examiner sat there. It felt like his eyes were constantly boring down on his neck, scrutinising him. Once when Jim turned round to look at the examiner he could have sworn that he caught the man's eyes quickly change direction. To have switched with Bill was a strange relief.

The group had begun to travel through the Gastrian Nebula, a large spiral of vibrant red stars. In the middle some of the stars would collide together to create explosions within the nebula. The phenomenon cast a red glow over the ship and surrounding area. It was making the voyage look beautiful but the tranquil calm didn't last long.

"Jim! There's a large space fog heading towards us. It's impenetrable." Emma's voice rang out from the mast. Everyone's attention turned towards the bow of the ship a few people leaning forward as if it would give them confirmation of what they were seeing. Jim leapt down from the sails and leant over the side of the ship to see how wide the fog stretched. He got his answer and not a good one. The fog was as Emma had said impenetrable and it stretched across the sky further than his eyes could see. Above and below it seemed to carry on forever as well, and it was moving in on them, fast. Wasting no more time Jim ran across the ship yelling out orders,

"Man your stations. Pull in sails, slow us down!" Immediately the recruits on the deck climbed up to help those already aloft. ""Secure the ropes. Bill help Ralph shut off all the engines. We need to proceed slowly. We don't know what may be inside."

"Aye, captain." Bill gave the over to Jim before turning and running down to Ralph. It took a few minutes but the ship began to slow down. Only a few moments more remained of clear vision until the fog began to engulf the ship. Turning his head up Jim called up to Emma in the look out post.

"Emma, keep as good a lookout as you can."

"Will do, Jim."

With that they vanished inside the fog.

The fog had remained around them for hours and still showed no signs of ceasing. The ship was deadly quiet with everyone remaining on their guard lest any abnormal noises occurred. Vision was almost completely impaired so the crew had had to rely almost entirely on a sense of hearing. It was doing them little good though, outside the ship was as silent as the inside. Barring the occasional sigh that is.

Jim was draped over the helm. His chin rested on the wooden wheel, the handles framing the sides of his face. The fingers of his right hand lazily tapped on of the handles. The examiner was probably watching him, though he wasn't feeling his eyes on his back. Besides Jim wasn't too fussed if he was being watched, the examiner knew that there was nothing that could be done until the fog dissipated. Might as well make him self comfortable. Stifling a yawn Jim called down to Ralph who was sat down resting his back against the mast.

"Ralph, make sure everyone has their lifelines on, including our examiner. Just in case."

Ralph nodded and pushed himself up off the deck. His black hair was tied in a plait at the base of his neck and he worse his signature black bandana as well. It was the only thing that set him out from anyone else and it looked out of place whenever he had to wear a uniform but he refused to take it off. It was his signature.

Making his way over to the life lines he scanned the fog. It seemed unnatural. Of course space fogs were not uncommon, but they weren't exactly frequent,

"Just our luck one arrives during our exam…" Ralph muttered under his breath. Bending down he unhooked the life lines that had been left and handed them out to the people who hadn't attached theirs yet. Some of them looked at him with a querying expression. Shrugging he handed them the ropes anyway.

"It's just a precaution," Ralph told them. "Better safe than sorry, eh?"

Jim, who was still slumped over the wheel, looked toward the bow of the boat, senses alert, preparing for something that may unexpectedly arise.

"Are you anticipating something happening?"

Jim stood up slowly at the sudden appearance of the examiner behind him. He was right; the examiner had been watching him. Placing his hands on the handles Jim glanced briefly over his shoulder.

"I'd rather be prepared than caught unawares. So I would prefer it if you would put that on," Jim said.

The examiner held his life line in his hands. Simply nodding at Jim's request he began loosening the knot, widening it to fit over his shoulders. Tightening it around his waist he turned to face Jim. Jim's eyes had watched him put it on and gave a satisfied nod when the examiner had finished. The examiner began to walk away when Jim spoke up again,

"So when do we get to know your name anyway?! Jim raised his eyebrows at the retreating man.

"When you find out if you passed or not," The examiner replied not stopping while he made his way down the steps. A small smile appeared on Jim's face,

"Great."


	3. Storm's a' Brewin' Part Two

_Storm's a' Brewin' -Part Two_

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own any part of Treasure Planet: Jim Hawkins, planets that features in the film, characters etc. OC, however are mine: Ralph, Emma and Bill._

_Yey, part two! I've been writing as much as I can cause exams are this month so my focus has to be elsewhere. Wish it didn't but … I've done my best. Please read and review, and of course,_

_Enjoy!_

The fog had lasted all of the previous day and at least half of the night. Now the third day had arrived and vision had finally returned to the crew. Jim had sent most of the crew to get some sleep as they had been up for half the night and on alert all the day before. Now only the skeleton crew was on deck.

The end of the test, and race, was today. They had to be back at port by nightfall. It was still early morning so they still had many hours, almost half a day, to make it back and complete their tasks. The fact however did nothing to reassure Jim. The stars had reappeared slowly as the fog dispelled and now shone brightly up above the horizon where dawn had begun breaking. The bright orange glow shone painfully in his eyes but he made no attempts to shield them. He was troubled and even worse he was very unsure. The view that he laid his eyes on that morning was wrong, their positioning was wrong, the whole journey had gone … wrong.

Half of the ships sails had been let down before the crew turned in. They were the small ones nearer the top of the mast so the ship was drifting slowly, but every inch they moved Jim knew could quite possibly be taking them even further in the opposite direction to what they wanted. The planets surrounding the ship were more plentiful than they were on the proper course, larger too. That in itself was a problem. Multiple large planets meant careful manoeuvring. Being careful rarely went along with being swift and Jim knew the crew couldn't waste time being slow. The damn fog had made them lose their course.

"Under my nose. I was stood at the helm and didn't notice!"

Slamming his fists down on the side of the ship Jim fell to his knees. Despair and anger washed over him.

"This can't be happening. The time to show my worth and it goes wrong because I couldn't keep the helm still ..." Jim muttered to himself under his breath, a feeling of uselessness creeping up inside him. He knew the feeling all too well and immediately began to suppress it. It had been with him long before his journey on the 'Legacy', the feeling that he couldn't do anything right. Maybe it was still true? Maybe he couldn't.

Jim laid his head against the side, bumping it on the wood harder than he intended, but he didn't notice. It was a trivial problem compared to the one he and the others were facing at that point. Hearing footsteps behind him Jim looked sideways to see a pair of boots beside him.

"We're lost." Ralph said. His voice was quiet, his words only meant to be heard by Jim. He gave a wry smile at Ralph's bluntness. Standing up slowly he rested his elbows on the side.

"Yeah … we're lost."

"Any ideas what we do?"

Jim shook his head. He knew the Solar space they had accidentally drifted into; it was part of the training to know. Everyone who wanted to command or even man a ship had to have a firm knowledge of the different galaxies and realms of space. Jim had that. The problem was he had no idea how far into solar system they had travelled or which direction they were facing. He sighed heavily rubbing his face with his hands.

"If we just start sailing we could end up sailing in completely the wrong direction," he said. "This is not going to be an easy day."

"Well it wouldn't be much of a test if it was easy."

Jim and Ralph turned round to see Emma walking up behind them. She had been on the night shift. Emma was fairly petite but had a loud set of lungs on her. That and a surprising amount of upper body strength. But then that wasn't surprising. With the amount of climbing and pulling on ropes needed to sail a ship, it was remote you would find any crew member with weak arms.

Standing next to Jim she took a long contemplating breath.

"So, that's Kinapis," she said after a moment. Her eyes watched the large planet that loomed beside the ship. The two boys followed her eye line, resting their palms on the side. Jim however leant on his hands, his shoulders hunching as he did.

"Yeah that's Kinapis. And no where on our exam route is Kinapis," said Jim.

"Don't worry, we'll figure it out. I don't know about you but I'm not walking away from this thing with a fail."

Suddenly a cry from above startled the three recruits.

"Asteroid belt! Surrounding the planet Kinapis. It's a revolving belt, heading down upon us from above. It's approaching fast!"

"We'll figure it out later," Ralph said as the three began running across the deck. Grabbing onto the bell handle Jim rang it as loud and hard as he could, his arm beating furiously. Almost immediately people began emerging on deck, sprinting up the rigging to take in the solar sails. Smaller parts of rock had begun to rain down on deck, one every now and then catching the sails. Jim let go of the bell and sprinted as fast as he could to the helm, yelling out orders as loud as he could.

"Evasive manoeuvres! Tie off the sails before they get ripped to shreds. Bill, make sure the engines are as fuelled as much as possible before the sails are taken in completely, we need to fight our way through it."

Grabbing onto the helm Jim pulled it towards him causing the ship to tilt upwards.

"Ralph, lifelines!"

"Already sorted. Everyone's tied off as tight as possible, with the exception of one," Ralph responded. Jim looked down to see a life line being thrown his way. Nodding to Ralph he quickly attached it to his waist, tying it securely. The examiner ran up the stairs and arrived at Jim's side, prepared to shout orders, but Jim gripped the helm and looked at the man.

"This is my test."

The ship was tilted upwards as far as it could go safely and heading straight towards the asteroid belt. Holding fast Jim yelled at the crew, who were hanging onto parts of the ship.

"Brace yourselves!"

With that the ship slammed into the belt.


	4. Hitch Hiking

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any parts of Treasure Planet; Jim Hawkins; Captain Amelia, Long John Silver; Interstellar Academy etc.**

**Oooh what a cliffhanger! I know an update took a while, but what can I say ... exams! Bleurgh. But I decided to take a break and add this chapter. **

**As always please review and constructive criticism is welcomed, after all it's for your enjoyment as much as mine. And of course most importantly,**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The helm shook violently under Jim's hands. The energy surrounding the asteroids was causing most of the vibrations that shook through the ship, as Jim attempted to sail through the belt. The revolving nature of the belt meant the ship was sailing in the opposite direction to the asteroid belt, creating more friction against them. The asteroids that collided with the vessel did nothing to decrease the shaking of the ship either, throwing the crew to the ground every time one bashed against the ship.

The engines propelled the ship forwards, breaking through the energy field. Jim's hands worked constantly as he dodged the large segments of rock. The situation had already begun to deteriorate rapidly, the ship having had some dangerous collisions. The top sail had broken off and now lay splintered across the deck, the solar sail with a large gash down the middle. However, pushing through was the only option.

"Come on!" Jim forcefully muttered the words. He could see the end of the belt as it zoomed ever closer. He pulled the helm violently to the right, avoiding an asteroid that was flying from above. As soon as he had another slammed into the side of the ship. Jim, along with the others were thrown sideways and he lost grip of the helm, sending it spinning. Cries erupted around him but Jim's attention was focused on regaining control of the wheel. The ship had begun turning with the energy field. Without him to counter it, they were at its mercy.

Grabbing the handles Jim pulled with all his strength to stop the helm from turning. He could feel his arms burning with the strain but he continued until the ship was once again heading in the correct direction. Looking down at the deck Jim saw something that made his stomach lurch. Someone's life line was hanging over the side of the ship. Images of Mr. Arrow's empty life line flashed through his mind, the memory bearing too much of a resemblance to the current situation. Several crew members were pulling on the rope trying to haul it back over, but it was difficult. There was debris of rock continuously raining down on the deck and they had to try to protect there heads. But, they were trying to pull the rope up which had to mean the person was still attached to the end of it.

Driven on by determination and fear Jim gripped the wheel and forcefully navigated them through the asteroid belt. The ship encountered some more hits but Jim's concentration wasn't deterred at any point. The end was so close, he wasn't losing it now.

"Come on, come on, come on …"

Jim's mutterings echoed in his head. The end was coming closer, closer,

"Three, two … one!"

The ship shot through the belt and back into open space. A cheer erupted from the crew followed by a unanimous sigh of relief. Suddenly the ship jolted as the thrusters were enforced, slowing the ship down considerably. The movement jarred Jim into action and he jumped down from the steering balcony. Landing on his feet he ran over to help pull the person back over board. More people had arrived to help. Making his way to the front Jim pulled on the rope a few times before grabbing onto an arm. Heaving he and a few others pulled the lad back onto the deck. It was a lad Jim had spoken to properly only twice. His arm was bloodied and at an odd angle.

"Broken. Come on we had better get him below," Emma said. Her and a few others helped the lad down under the ship. Jim watched them go before his legs crumbled underneath him. Slumping down he rested back against the wooden side. Legs bent he rested his elbows on his knees and eyes on his palms. All his energy felt spent. As before Ralph appeared next to him, along with Bill. The two boys sat down either side of Jim.

"Who's driving?" Ralph asked.

Looking up Jim saw the examiner at the helm. He was the only person who didn't look dishevelled. Jim pointed a thumb at him and Ralph looked up. The examiner had his eyes focused ahead of him, seemingly oblivious to the wreck that surrounded him. Jim closed his eyes and rested his head back against the wood.

"Well that was really something," Jim said.

Ralph and Bill nodded in agreement but remained silent. The three of them sat there in silence for a couple of minutes looking at the destruction that was their ship. The question of how they were going to get back hung in the air but no one was prepared to ask it. The likelihood that there was little chance of making it back in time had dawned on nearly everyone.

After a time Emma emerged on deck. She too looked at the broken sail with disappointment. Noticing the three lads out of the corner of her eye she began to make her way over to them. Not one of them looked up at her as she did. It was only when she crouched down directly in front of Jim that he raised his eyes to her face. A smile appeared on her face reassuringly and she placed a hand on his arm.

"Henry's fine, we put his arm right," Jim let out a breath he wasn't aware had been caught in his chest at hearing those words. So he hadn't screwed up completely. "He's asleep. Admittedly we had to force him. Wasn't too happy being told he wasn't allowed to help us land at port." Emma's words brought back to the forefront the predicament no one really wanted to acknowledge. But they had to, and Jim knew it. Sighing he pushed himself up, Emma backing away to give him room as he did.

He looked at his three companians. Ideas began circulating in his head as to what to do but each one would take far to long. Time was not something they had right now.

"Look!" Ralph's voice broke the silence and Jim, Bill and Emma looked up to where Ralph's hand was pointing. Above the ship large bird like creatures were flying in the opposite direction. "Hugoh Craneiums." Ralph looked at Jim, a wide smile on his face as information from all the rainy day lessons came flooding back into his mind. "Hugoh Craneiums are nomadic creatures, constantly flying in a specific route all year to be in the best places during the different courses of the year." Excitement began to flow through him and Ralph was soon walking across the deck as he explained, the others stood watching him as he unravelled his thought process. "And part of their route happens to course through our test route," Jim's eyes lit up as he realised where his friend was heading. "If they're travelling in that direction that means it must be towards port-."

"Because in the Bedlamic Galaxy section of their route the opposite direction holds uncharted black holes. Ralph that's it." Jim interrupted Ralph's speech, the cogs in his head spinning quickly. "Bill how much energy is left in the engines?"

Jim turned to Bill but Bill's expression was not the one Jim had wanted to see.

"Not a lot. Passing through the asteroid belt took up a lot of energy and the solar sails are, well," He waved a hand at the torn sails above them. "We'll have half our usual projectory if we're lucky.."

Jim placed his hands in his pockets and looked down in thought. That was just their luck. They find one solution but then it's counteracted by another problem. Jim and the others would be able to make it back knowing the direction to take but they would be at least a day late. They had so failed the test. Such a worry did not seem to hang around Emma as she looked out of the Starboard side and broke into a smile.

"Well we could still obtain some points. There's a shooting star," Emma said.

"Wait, a what?" Jim asked, pulling out of his reverie. He spun quickly at looked at the star. Immediately his face broke into a grin and he took wide strides towards the steps leading to the steering balcony. "That's it! We're getting out of this system and back to that port. Today."

Jim ran up the steps two at a time telling Bill to call everyone back up on deck, besides Henry. Glancing curiously at the other two Bill did as he was told and called down the hatch. Soon everyone had assembled on deck and Jim gave orders to let down all sails and tighten the ropes to make the ship sturdy for sailing again. Ralph and Emma followed Jim up the steps, wondering what he was thinking. Jim moved the examiner aside and began changing the course of the ship, turning it round to follow the shooting star. The examiner stepped back but his eyes held sharp question. This Jim ignored, concentrating on what he was doing.

"Jim what are you doing?" Emma asked.

"I'm heading towards that star," He responded.

"Yeah that I can see, and it will get us points, but how exactly are we going to get back today?"

"If we sail back simply on the solar sails we'll never get back in time. And a shooting star is on the criteria list right?" Jim looked over at the examiner who simply nodded. He was waiting to hear where the young lads point was going. Seeing the nod Jim looked back at Emma, who's brows were becoming increasingly furrowed.

"But sailing alongside a shooting star isn't going to get us back in time. You heard Bill, the energy is depleated and the sails are nackered," Ralph interjected.

A sly grin graced Jim's features and he turned to look at the two. His hands turned the helm, making progress towards the star.

"No, but hitching a ride _on_ it will," Jim said.


	5. Easy Going

**Ok, chapter number five. **

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any parts of Treasure Planet; Jim Hawkins; Captain Amelia, Long John Silver; Interstellar Academy etc.**

**As always please review and constructive criticism is welcomed, after all it's for your enjoyment as much as mine. And of course most importantly,**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The comet bore them forwards, back towards where the rest of the school was waiting for their return. Everyone was holding onto part of the ship as cold dusty snow blew against them, sticking to their clothes and hair. Jim's decision had been met with scepticism at the beginning but now everyone's eye was turned towards beating the other team back. Rivalry was never far behind in any circumstance. Jim had asked Bill to produce one final push of energy from the engines and luckily enough it had been be mustered to propel them onto the star. Now the ship lay lodged safely in a crevice as they were taken for a ride. What the examiner was thinking Jim didn't know, after all he _was_ fulfilling all of the objectives.

"Jim we're nearing port. Shouldn't we be thinking about disengaging?" Emma called down from above.

Jim nodded. The solar sails had restored their energy levels to full capacity so making it back wouldn't be a problem. "Bill, full capacity."

Bill clamoured down below towards the control room. Waiting Jim looked at the faint outline of their planet as it started to come closer. Holding onto the helm Jim placed his foot back to steady himself for the surge forwards. Turning the helm Jim quickly changed the course of the ship away from the star. The end was so close now. After the turmoil of the past day it didn't seem real.

Jim could see the light from the port, and the other ship. It was coming down from their route. Calling down Jim alerted the others who ran on deck to see for them selves, and re-kindle the competitive spark.

Thrust forwards by the new solar energy in the ship Jim's ship was soon level with the other one.

They raced all the way back, one ship over taking another before falling back again. The crowd had begun cheering having spotted them in the sky. Suddenly the other ship sped forwards taking the lead, and landing, albeit not gracefully, in their port station first. Jim's quickly followed suit, the captain groaning at their loss.

Walking down the ramp onto the port Jim joined in the hugging and back clapping while listening to the whistles from the school.

Smiling he looked across at the other ship. It appeared to be somewhat beaten as well, though not half as much in comparison to his. Well that was judging from the interior of the ship. He hadn't dared to look at it from the outside yet.

As he watched them come down the ramp he noticed the girl from before. She looked tired but her face was smiling. Again when he looked at her she turned to look at him. Giving him the once over with her eyes Jim saw her raise her eyebrows and give a sharp two fingered wave. Curious at her expression Jim looked down at himself, and there he found the reason. His clothes were damp and dirtied from the shooting star and had one or two rips in places as well. Looking up he saw that she had vanished. His eyes darted back and forth in search for her but he was interrupted by a hand on his shoulder. It was Ralph,

"Come on mate. You need to clean up," Ralph said with a grin.

Returning the smile Jim, along with Bill and some other lads headed back to their lodgings. They had a few hours before finding out their results and it was preferred that candidates were clean when receiving them.

* * *

Jim was dressed in his white uniform. They were waiting in the hall of the academy, both teams. The examiners had yet to arrive. Jim was stood by the door watching people milling around, his shoulder resting against the door. He felt a presence beside him and expecting to find Ralph didn't turn round.

"Do you reckon they'll mark us down for sailing through an asteroid belt?" he asked.

"So that's what happened to your ship," A female voice spoke next to him. Jolting off the wall he looked to see the girl with the feline features stood next to him. Seeing her closer confirmed his opinion that she looked vaguely like Captain Amelia. Her hair was a light auburn and curly from what he could see from her loose bun at her neck. She had the same accent too.

She had turned to look at him when Jim jerked away from the wall. The action had made her smile. "And why you came back looking like you had just arrived back from a battle."

"Yeah, we had a few … problems, getting back," he responded.

"Clearly. They never take this long when deciding if someone passes or fails. It's not usually a hard decision." She was looking at the other entrance to the hall as she spoke. The two examiners had entered and were talking to the president. Everyone's attention had shifted their way. Anticipation hung in the air.

"It might be your group they're talking so long about."

She did not respond for a moment but her eyes held something of amusement.

"Perhaps," she responded finally.

A voice echoed across the room. The president was stood on small raised platform.

"Students take your seats," he said.

Jim and the girl looked at each other. She gave him a small smile and the same brief salute from before. Then she walked off to take her seat. Watching her briefly Jim made his way over to his own seat. Already sat down Jim found Ralph.

"Where were you?" Jim asked.

"Didn't want to interrupt you," Ralph replied with a grin.

"What?"

"Do you know who she is?" Ralph asked. Jim gave a twitch of his eyebrow in response. He had not gotten round to asking her name.

"No. Why, do you?"

Ralph looked over at her. She was sat loosely draping her elbow over the back of the chair. She glanced over at them. The boys quickly turned back round, attempting to look forward innocently.

"That's Captain Amelia's niece," Ralph said after a moment.

"She's what?" Jim said surprised; although her similarity to the Captain made sense now.

"Yep. So seems you two have a thing in common."

"The Captain," Jim said indifferently. Though his voice was neutral his curiosity piqued.

Ralph shrugged. "It's a start."

"I wasn't looking for start," Jim said, making sure he didn't glance her way. He didn't want to be caught looking at her again.

"Mphm."

Jim looked at Ralph's whos face held a sly smirk. Knowing what was being implied Jim spoke with more conviction.

"I wasn't."

Ralph's provoking disbelief continued but Jim was silenced when the examiners began speaking.

"Candidates after due consideration we have decided … that's congratulations are in order. For all."

Sighs of relief were heard issuing from the block of students.

* * *

**Phew finally. That was a bit of an eventful few chapters, but it's going to simmer down. For a little bit anyway. Need to do some character work. And btw, Silver will be along soon, I promise. **

**RHM**


	6. Reunion

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any parts of Treasure Planet; Jim Hawkins; Captain Amelia, Long John Silver; Interstellar Academy etc.**

**Wahay, Chapter Five. This chapter is longer than the others and not as action packed (or whatever), cause I needed to introduce the characters so it's more of a character and plot chapter, but that doesn't mean it's boring!! Well hopefully not, so read on and let me know -**

**Thanks for the reviews, and keep on doing so ;P **

**Chapter Five**

* * *

"Jim, I need some help down here."

Sarah's voice reverberated through the upper landings of the Benbow Inn, reaching Jim's ears. Rolling off his bed Jim willingly obliged and made his way downstairs to help his mother. Since its refurbishment the Benbow had acquired more customers as well as the old regulars.

Making his way through the busy tables Jim collected the dirty plates and put them in a tray. Somehow the task was more bearable now that he knew he wouldn't be doing it for the rest of his life.

Pushing the door to the kitchen open with his back he placed the tray down in the sink and addressed his mother,

"Where's Ben?"

"I had to send him to go and get some more supplies. The customers are eating us out of house and home lately," she responded.

Jim nodded. A quick glance out of the window in the kitchen door showed that more people had arrived. The occupants at the door however were ones that Jim recognised. He began to head out of the kitchen door but a call from Sarah had him doubling back and grabbing plates of food.

"Table three!" she called out after him.

Jim wound his way through the tables before reaching table three. The table was occupied by a young couple who didn't even notice him place the food down in front of them.

"Enjoy," Jim spoke to air as the couple didn't even glance in his direction. He gave a small nod at the imaginary 'thank you' and headed back towards the door.

"Doc!"

"Ahh, Jim. Your home then. Well I mean of course you're at home Amelia's back, so it would only make sense that you were back as well-"

"It's good to see you too," Jim cut off Delbert's rambling with a smirk. It was good to see that some things still remained the same. Jim was met by a warm smile from the Doctor, before Sarah came over to greet her friends.

"Delbert. It's been a while," Sarah walked up and stood by Jim. Her apron held dust of flour and specks had gotten into her hair, but she didn't seem to notice or mind. She was cheerful all the same. Jim watched her for a few moments, feeling happy and relieved to see his mother in such a joyful mood again, especially since her times of hardship had in part been due to him. At least that's how he felt.

"Ah, Mr Hawkins," Amelia's voice broke Jim's attention away from his mother and he looked over to see the Captain stood in the doorway, her little boy perched on her hip. Involentarily he blinked a few times at the sight. It was still strange to see her interchange between a figure of authority at the Academy and … mummy. He managed to regain himself though and addressed her back,

"Good evening Captain," he said with politeness which had been refined over the past two years.

"Oh tosh, we are no longer at the academy you can call me Amelia. Who knows, I may even bring myself to call you Jim," she walked past the small group and headed towards a large spare table at the back of the Inn that had been reserved for them. Delbert made to follow her but was stopped by Sarah's hand on his arm and a confused expression on her face,

"Delbert, aren't you missing something?" she asked.

"Erm, no Sarah? I don't think so," The Doctor responded with an equally confused expression.

"Where are you other children?"

"Oh, yes, no, no, they're fine, they're with the nanny. They should be here in a moment," He said in a cheerful tone. Sarah's relief evidently showed on her face, but luckily Delbert didn't see. She walked with him to the table, while Jim continued to work clearing away the tables.

"You found a nanny?" Sarah asked.

"Well she's not so much a nanny, she's a relation of Amelia's who came back to stay for a while, and she opted to help with the children. You know how hard it is to get a proper nanny round here …" Sarah left to go and get them some menus, leaving Delbert to continue talking about the problem of hiring nannies. Though it was true, it was difficult to find decent help, it wasn't that surprising. Those children we're a handful.

Sarah walked into the kitchen passing by Jim who had stopped working when he overheard the Doctor's little speech. His face held a small frown, remembering what Ralph had told him earlier …

* * *

Empty plates lined the back table, the occupants sat there filled to perfection with food from the Benbow kitchen. Delbert's and Amelia's son had fallen asleep in his chair and soft snores came from his direction. The pub, previously loud and bustling had toned down now most of the customers had left. Those who remained had come for a quick drink and chat before heading out on various expeditions.

Smiling down at her son Amelia gently stroked his head. The others had not yet turned up and her eyes flickered over at the door constantly as though stuck on autopilot.

"Where do you reckon Olivia got too?" she asked Delbert who appeared to be following in his sons wake. His eyes had been closed for several minutes, the occasional flicker showing his attempts to stay awake.

"Hmm, what?" he asked, starting awake from his mini slumber.

"Olivia? Is that your relation?" Sarah asked. Due to the slowdown in customers she had taken the liberty to join Delbert at their table, enjoying the moments of peace granted to her feet. Jim had vanished upstairs, claiming he needed to finish unpacking his belongings. Keeping a hand gently resting on her sons head, Amelia turned to speak to Sarah.

"Yes. My niece in fact. She goes to the Academy as well, on the opposing team actually to Jim, in their practical exam. She was the team's engineer."

"Why is staying with you?"

"Her father has been sent on a voyage, quite a long voyage, and um, her mother, my sister, is erm … she's dead."

A mirthless smile graced Amelia's features, an old memory coming back, though somewhat against her will. Delbert's hand gently placed itself over hers, cupping it reassuringly. Sarah lowered her eyes, offering a small amount of privacy to the intimate moment.

"Don't worry about Olivia, I'm sure she's fine. It's highly likely she just-"

"I quit!"

Delbert was cut off by a young female voice to the side of him. The sound startled him and his body jolted as he turned to see Olivia stood next to him, rather dishevelled. A puff of air escaped her lips, blowing her hair, which had fallen in front, away from her face. The three girls were tugging on her arms and one had wrapped herself around Olivia's right leg.

"Girls," Amelia spoke in her authoritative manner, looking at the girls as she did, until they let go of their unfortunate cousin. Laughing they ran round to the other side of the table, the one who had been clinging onto Olivia's leg prodding her brother as she did, causing him to wake and begin his own addition of noise.

"Ah, Olivia, we were just wondering where you got too. Allow me," Delbert rose and pulled out a chair for Olivia for her to sit down on. Smiling at him she took the chair, but pulled it in herself. For a few moments Delbert looked down at his hands as his step-niece pulled it out of his hands, before returning to his own chair.

Once she had calmed the racket caused by her children Amelia turned her attention to Olivia, who sat having a glaring contest with her young cousin, unsurprisingly the one who had prodded her brother.

"Now Olivia, what do you mean?" she asked.

"Don't get me wrong aunt, they can be great kids and as my cousins, I love them. But as their babysitter, I qui-, I can't ok, just … no."

"Well, Olivia, they can a bit of a handful-"

"Bit of a handful? Uncle Delbert, those girls decided while we were on our way here they would rather go in the direction of town, and for two and a half year olds they run fast and in opposite directions." Delbert coughed in his throat and looked at the table, unable to contradict Olivia since he had been through the same thing himself.

Sarah, who had watched the interchange between the family decided to introduce herself to her new guest,

"Olivia, hello. I'm Sarah, friend of your aunt and uncle."

"Yes, hi," Turning to Sarah, Olivia smiled at Jim's mother and reached out to take her hand in her own. "Great Inn by the way."

"Oh, why erm, thank you."

"Do you have a ladies room, by any chance?"

"Yes, of course, it's just up the stairs at the top of the landing."

Smiling Olivia stood up from the table and headed towards the stairs, running up them two at a time when she reached them. Her boots made light thuds against the wood each time they collided but only for a brief second. Like her aunt she had quick, light footed agility. Her black boots reached up to the knee and tucked into them were cream trousers. On top Olivia donned a loose light grey tunic, the hem at the knees and the neck cut straight across the chest, the edges resting against her shoulders. Two thin straps appeared across the shoulder holding it in place, as well as a black belt across her waist.

Jim, who had been making his way back downstairs, heard the sound of footsteps before his eyes even saw her coming. He had indeed gone to finish unpacking his things. At least that had been the intention, but as happened quite frequently he had gotten distracted. Hidden at the bottom of his trouser pocket was a crumpled note, the ink smudged in places due to extensive reading. The note had been discovered on his pillow a few days before he had left the academy and since that time it had not left his body. It was private, but more importantly held a link to someone never far way from Jim. Placing his hand to his pocket again Jim felt reassured by the feeling on paper beneath the fabric; a moment of reassurance coming hand in hand with momentary lack of concentration.

"Whoa."

Olivia stopped short, preventing herself from running into Jim. Both set of hands raised to their chests in stances of defence, but Olivia grinned at the situation.

"You know, I would have thought working in a pub would raise your awareness of your surroundings," Olivia said, in a light tone, the comment intended to be lighthearted.

Jim's responsive skills however shut down completely for a moment, and he stared blankly down at the girl in front of him. She had acquired a sudden knack for, quite literally, jumping into his life at random points lately. Her eyebrows raised as his lack of response continued.

"Ahem, Jim. Mr Hawkins," Olivia taunted in a sing song voice, scarily like her aunts. The sounds slapped senses back into Jim and he quickly lowered his hands.

"Er, yeah. Sorry, I wasn't expecting Olivia Beaufort to come running round the corner of my home," Jim responded. He leaned forward slightly, hands in pockets, challenging her back with her own name since she appeared to know who he was. His response caused her to smile and nod.

"Mphm, you've been talking to Ralph," she stated.

"You know Ralph?" Jim asked.

"I know everybody."

"You don't know me." Jim crossed his arms over his chest as Olivia blinked a few times, surprised slightly by his reaction. The moment was quick though and was soon replaced by a thoughtful expression on her face. Her eyes slid back over the banister to the table where they're respective guardians sat, idly chatting away.

"Well, then that's something I'm going to have to remedy. Now if you'll excuse me, I came up here for a reason."

And she walked away, leaving Jim stood alone on the landing with no option but to go down and join his mother and company. He turned his head to see Olivia disappear behind a door. Next to the door was a small window and he looked out of it briefly. However as he turned to leave a figure outside caught his eye. Quickly he ran to the window to get a clearer view. Over the small mound he could have sworn he saw a large bulky man waving over at him, but the longer he searched the more apparent it became that the stranger had disappeared. Several moments passed in which Jim continued to search, and he muttered a small whisper,

"Silver?"

* * *

**Jim isn't as present in this chapter either. Sorry for any Jimbo fans, but I needed to push him out of the way for a bit. But hey, you got all, well almost all, the others to keep you going. I was going to put in Ben but that would have been too long, so he'll be along next chappie! Sorry.**

**RHM**


	7. Caledonians

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any parts of Treasure Planet; Jim Hawkins; Captain Amelia, Long John Silver; Interstellar Academy etc.**

**And on to numero six. Thanks for the reviews, I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy them - so you know, I wouldn't say no to any for this chapter, hehe.**

**Ok moving on, I'll stop yabbering and let you get on with the story. Silver is slowly beginning to come through in the story more, but has he arrived in the flesh? We shall see … **

**Enjoy! **

* * *

Delbert's observatory was illuminated by an orange glow from the fire, and candles placed at random around the room. The company from the inn was present, lounging about the room, chatting quietly while waiting for Jim to arrive. A letter had come to the inn for him that morning, claiming that someone in town wanted to speak to him. Sarah had been curious but Jim had assured her that it was most likely some connection of Ralph's giving him a message from his friend. Truly enough Ralph did seem to know at least several people on every planet. It had seemed odd to her that he hadn't simply sent the message in the letter but she didn't let the thought bother her. Far be it for her to analyse the ways of seventeen year old boys.

Olivia was sat up above the rest, in the chair behind the huge telescope facing the sky. Her leg was bent, resting her foot on the large contraption, and her hand idly manoeuvred the eye hole peering at different parts of the sky before moving on.

Down below Delbert was explaining his findings of a new star in the Coral Galaxy.

"You see as the person who makes a new discovery gets to name it, I'm at a total loss as to what to do. Do I name it, and have a star in the sky that only I know what it means, or do I let some other more well known academic have the honour, I don't know what to do I, get so confused," he said, hands fidgeting in front of him. He was sat in the large armchair, Sarah and Amelia on a large couch opposite. The three adults looked up at the sound of Olivia's voice calling down,

"Jim's back."

"How can you tell? The telescope doesn't revolve down beyond a 45' angle," Delbert questioned the ceiling, as the staircase hid the girl from view.

"I can hear him," she responded, her head resting lazily back against the chair.

The three adults turned their ears towards the door listening for sounds of Jim approaching. Almost immediately Amelia nodded confirming what Olivia had said while Sarah and Delbert remained straining to hear anything.

"He should be here in a minute," Amelia said. "Olivia did you really manage to hear him from up there?" Amelia knew that her own hearing was acute and she hadn't been able to hear him approaching until it had been pointed out. Though Olivia held a few similar features to her own, Olivia was easily more like her father than her mother, in looks and ability, and if anything had strengthened eyesight and reflexes not hearing.

"Yep. That and there's a hole in the roof up here that faces the pathway."

At that moment Jim entered the room, but was not alone. Jim turned to look at the robot behind him who stood slouched against the doorframe, body quivering. Sarah stood up quickly and made her way over to Ben.

"Ben! What happened?"

"Nothing, he's just not used to the walk."

"But he walks here all the time," she responded picking Ben off the wall.

"The town is a lot further away than the inn," Ben said a mechanical arm rotating supposedly indicating back towards the town. "I remember now why I don't like going down there - ahh!!"

Ben jumped behind Sarah as Olivia landed next to him, having leaped down from the balcony above. He stuck his face out at her from behind Sarah's shoulder, ignorant of the amused looks coming from the group at his reaction and high pitched yelp. Olivia straightened up and stared back at the robot.

"You must be Ben," she said after a moment.

"Yep. Good old friend of Jimmy," Ben moved away from Sarah and fell onto Jim, his arm looping around Jim's shoulders. Turning to him Ben leant in to speak confidentially to Jim, but without lowering his voice everyone heard. "She your girlfriend?"

"What?! No."

"There's nothing to be ashamed of," Ben began but Jim unhooked his arm and stepped back from the robot.

"I'm not ashamed she's just not."

"Are you sure because they told me that about the Captain and Doc and, look how that one turned out!"

"Somehow if I were I think we'd know," Olivia said relieving Jim of persuading the robot. She had moved behind Delbert's chair and was leaning on it with her forearms. Jim looked over at her, his face having previously fallen into his hands. It wasn't the first time the robot had opted to embarrass him, or place him in a potentially dangerous situation. Her own glance caught Jims, but her face held a grin, apparently finding the situation amusing. Jim let out a sigh of exasperation and eyed the robot before moving to lean against the bookshelf.

Delbert stood next to Ben, hands placed inside the pockets of his maroon robe.

"Look at this. My dear fellow you've got strange markings on your, erm …" Delbert looked uncertain as to where to claim the markings were. His finger pointed to the cogs of his shoulder and his mouth opened a few times in an attempt at what to say before words fully came out, "… body."

"Really Doc? What're they look like?" Ben twisted his head round and elongated his eyes to see the point Delbert was pointing at. The others closed in around him. Olivia was the first to speak.

"That's Caledonian. How on earth did you get Caledonian markings?" Her face held a confused expression as she asked Ben. He simply shrugged and waved his arms.

"Not a clue!"

"You were in town for several days Ben what did you do?" Sarah asked.

"Well, I, I … er …" Ben stammered while trying to regain his thoughts. The robots delay in answering brought Jim off the wall and he looked down at the markings on his metal body. Ben was still trying to get the words out and Jim frowned at the situation. The last time Ben couldn't remember he had been messed with. Just to check Jim looked at the place that Ben's memory plate should be. As he thought, it was still there. "Yes! That's it!" Ben suddenly exclaimed.

"I was in town getting things for Sarah, and I got lost, I got lost. Then there were these guys who took me to an old maintenance shop, telling me they knew this guy who could, give me a body transformation. Oh you don't know what it's like to be a dirty, rusty old robot, in a world of other more refined models!"

Ben began to dry cry and flung himself on Jim who stood stoic for a moment before patting the robot gently on the back.

"It's ok Ben. It'll be ok, but, you are aware you look exactly the same?" Jim asked.

"Yeah but I _feel_ great!" Jim pushed his face close to Jim's before moving back. "In fact I feel so great I'm gonna go have a peek at the little ones. They in their room?" And he quickly dashed from the room, on his knee wheels.

"No Ben, morphs already in there." Jim called after the robot but gave up as he was already gone. He rubbed his face with his hand, Delbert doing the same motion on the other side of the room. He was waiting for the imminent squeals from his children. Ben was good with the children, but they loved him a bit too much.

"Morph?" Jim looked up at Olivia's question. She hadn't seen the shape shifter yet, which he thought was a bit odd as Morph seemed to be everywhere. Leaning against the book shelf again he attempted to explain.

"Yeah Morph's sort of a shape shifting blob …" Jim turned his hand, indicting the shape of a … blob, as he called it. Olivia moved nearer to him, nestling herself against the shelf as well, though her shoulder was against the wood. Her face showed she still didn't fully understand. "You'll see what I mean soon."

Nodding she looked back at the room. The others had returned to their positions near the fire. Remembering what she had said a few minutes ago, Jim asked Olivia,

"How did you know those marks were Caledonian? What's Caledonian?"

"Engineering History," She replied. "really riveting stuff." Hr voice held the un-missable note of sarcasm, and Jim smirked down at her. "Caledonians invented solar sails, but were a really malicious race, and I mean truly viscous, most of them were pirates, and pirates are despicable in themselves but Caledonian pirates … you didn't want to get in their way."

Jim looked at the floor at her mention of pirates being despicable. His own encounters had taught him that yes it was true, but there was always that one contradiction; the man who threw all notions of pirates as wholly evil out of the window. It was at that point he realised that, whatever Amelia had told her niece about the voyage to Treasure Planet certain details had been left out.

"So it's bad that Ben is marked with their language," Jim continued, bringing his attention back to the present but Olivia shook her head. She wasn't finished.

"Well yes, but it's not so much bad as odd," For the first time she turned her gaze up at Jim, and for the first time he saw her truly serious. "Caledonians disappeared from every Galaxy several centuries ago."

At that moment, as if on cue, a loud banging commenced on the Doctors door, making everyone, especially Jim and Olivia jump. Amelia disappeared to open to the door and presently returned with the President of the Academy and the robotic policemen that Jim knew, oh so well. Olivia stepped forward a few paces at the sudden appearance of the President and Jim folded himself off the wall. Amelia went to stand by Delbert who placed a hand around her waist while Sarah remained seated but attentive.

"Captain Amelia, we have an emergency. You are needed immediately." His tone sounded apologetic but urgent and Amelia turned to Olivia and Jim and motioned for them to leave.

Olivia looked resilient to resist but by the look in her aunts' eye made to comply. At the sudden information of an emergency Jim instinctively reached inside his pocket, a new and less crumpled note in place of the old one, and bearing information on the emergency that had suddenly been exposed. Keeping the information from the Captain had been a hard choice but if he hadn't then curiosity as to where he got it from would be sent his way. He had been disappointed that upon entering town he hadn't finally met Silver again, a note being left instead. Of course he had no definite proof that it was Silver sending him notes, save for a feeling in his gut and the image he had seen outside of the window previously. He believed it strongly to have not been his imagination.

The note pressed against his fingers he thought of the dangers it held. It provided information that he should not know about, to help those around him, and yet he wasn't able to show it to anyone. It was like being trapped in a horrible physical limbo. On his way back he had considered showing it to Olivia since she was his own age and maybe more likely to help him without much prosecution. That notion however left him when he realised that, young as she was, she had been brought up around Captain Amelia, and pirates would not be on her friendship list, which happened to be the main problem since the note was from a pirate. A reformed pirate in Jim's eyes but probably not in hers.

As the two teens made to leave the President placed his arm out stopping them going any further. "No, we're going to need you."

* * *

**Yey, Ben arrived! As in the film I'm trying to make him some comic relief (gotta love comedy characters), so hopefully it worked. I'm aware that Caledonians probably didn't invent the Solar Sails (since they are actually a term used by historians to describe people living in Scotland in the Iron Age who were enemies of the Roman Empire) but meh, just go with it.**

**Argus456**** – Silver making a come-back? Hmm … all will be revealed, later!**

**Courage Sun**** – Thank you. I was trying to get that across. Yes Olivia is Amelia's niece but is also first and foremost a 17 yr old girl.**

**Vinillii**** – Hehe, I'm curious too!**

**Lady Safira, the wanna be dwarf, Nathaneal Jacobs**** – Thanks all for the reviews. Hope you continue enjoying the story.**


	8. Fatalities of War

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any parts of Treasure Planet; Jim Hawkins; Captain Amelia, Long John Silver; Interstellar Academy etc.**

**Ok first of all, sorry for the late update. I have honestly been really busy and this got pushed to the back of my mind. It has always been there though and I've finally been able to get back to it. But anyway, yes new chapter.**

**I decided I needed to do some work with Jim and Olivia, by themselves, so that's what this chapter is.**

**Enjoy!

* * *

**

Jim looked out of the window, his gaze wandering down to the small pier at the end of the road. She was still there. It had been several hours since he and Sarah had gone back to the Inn. Claiming to want some fresh air Olivia had joined them too, but along the way she had broken off in a different direction. Jim had been in the kitchen when he noticed her sat down on the edge of the pier, staring off across the huge gorge. He had wanted to go out and check she was alright, but Sarah had told him not to; she needed some space for a little while.

Well that was an hour ago and she still hadn't moved. He wasn't sure why, but Jim had a strange feeling that she was waiting for him. Putting the dishes to one side he left morph, who was acting as a washcloth and headed out down to the pier, remembering the events of last night.

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"_Intelligence has discovered that a surge of pirate activity has begun in Sector G of the Lotus Galaxy. Due to dense planetary alignments around that Galaxy they had been virtually untraceable until now-"_

"_What does that mean?" Olivia asked her brow furrowed at the news they had received. The President looked up at her surprised at the sudden interruption as, though he said he needed them, he had directed all of his information so far at Amelia. The Captain stood with her daughter in her arms. The little girl had woken up at the noisy entrance of the President and refused to leave without her mother. So Amelia was taking in all of the information with deep seriousness while balancing the little girl. _

_The President glanced at Amelia before addressing Olivia who stood waiting._

"_It means that a lot of activity happened without us noticing and now it looks as though it could be war. From what we've seen they have a strong frontier," he said. Jim noticed sadness in the man's face._

"_From what we've seen?" Amelia asked._

_The sadness increased and the president looked over at Olivia. "I need a short word with Ms Beaufort."_

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Walking down the rocky path Jim came up behind Olivia, stopping for a few moments unsure as to how to proceed. He decided to stay quiet and sit down next to her, looking out across the huge drop below his feet.

'_Now what?' _Jim thought to himself, having no idea how to handle a situation like this. Sympathising girls was not something he exactly had lots of experience at.

Thankfully he didn't have to do anything as Olivia spoke. However she didn't look at him. In fact Jim noticed that her hair was let down from its bun and it now hung loose over her face, shielding him from seeing her face.

"Protect those who need protecting, fight for the greater good, fulfil your duty at all cost … and be true to who you are, even in the face of death," Olivia spoke the motto which Jim had heard before. It was the official motto of the space corporation. The army cadets in a sense, and what Olivia's father had been Corporate Commodore of, until ….

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_Jim stood out in the hallway with the others waiting for the president and Olivia to come out. Amelia had remained inside as well. Placing his head on the wall Jim looked up at the ceiling his thoughts wandering to what could be going on beyond the door. He was about to ask Delbert if he had any idea but was interrupted by the door being wrenched open and a distraught looking Olivia running out. Reaching out his hand Jim made to try and stop her, to ask what was wrong, but she easily dodged out of his reach and ran off towards the stairs. Though he hadn't known her for long whenever he saw her she was so calm and in control and seeing her looking, well, a wreck shocked Jim and he spun round to face Amelia as she emerged from the room with the president. She also looked grave but maintained her composure._

"_Mr Hawkins we will be leaving in three days. Sarah I am sorry to be doing this to you but the situation is … dire, and we could really use Jim," Amelia stood in front of the other woman placing her hand on Sarah's shoulder gently. Sarah looked agitated, clearly unnerved about letting Jim be taken along, especially after watching Olivia run away only moments before. _

"_Don't worry Sarah, Jim will be fine," Delbert spoke up, reassuring his friend._

"_Indeed. He will have the dear Doctor to watch over him," the president added drawing attention from Jim, Delbert and Sarah. Amelia looked up as well though her face held a smile opposed to the shock which was painted across the other three's faces._

"_Well," she looked back at Delbert who was wide eyed with surprise, "you proved so valuable in your astronomical advice on our first voyage I believe it would be beneficial for you to accompany me in this time round."_

_Delbert smiled down at Amelia, affection radiating from his eyes. Jim's own gaze found itself moving over to the staircase and he wondered how Olivia was doing and he had a strange urge to go and see if she was alright. Without consciously realising it his feet understood his want and he began to walk towards the stairs._

"_Mr Hawkins," Jim was stopped in his tracks by the reprimanding voice of Captain Amelia. Finding himself torn he decided to turn round, turning his back on the upset girl. "I think she'll want to be alone for a while."_

"_Why? What's going on?" Jim asked, bringing back to the foreground the issue that he was most interested in at that moment. He watched as Amelia glanced down at the ground, a heavy sigh emitting from her mouth. When she looked up again her eyes held great sorrow and Jim thought it made her look older than she was. _

"_A fleet was dispatched about two months ago to start the frontier against the Caledonians. A report was delivered about a week ago, supposedly on the intelligence discovered. It was however a message from the Caledonian leader," Amelia held up her hand and the group noticed for the first time the medal which Amelia held in her hand, "Commodore Beaufort's medal to be precise. The whole fleet has vanished. They are certified as missing … presumed dead, including Commodore Beaufort. Olivia's father."_

"_Oh, no," Sarah reached out and held onto Jim's arm, her other hand rising to her mouth in surprise and horror, "Poor Olivia." Jim placed his own hand over his mothers, and resisted the urge to look up the stairs._

"_I think it's best we give her some time alone," Amelia added softly, indicating for the others to go back into the room._

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"… be true to who you are, even in the face of death," Olivia uttered the words again, her voice barely above a whisper. Jim didn't recognise that part of the motto and he glanced across at the girl sat beside him, her face still shielded by a veil of hair. She was looking down at her hands and Jim followed her gaze to see her fathers' medal lying in her palm.

"He always told me that," Olivia finally addressed Jim. Turning her head to look at him Jim saw the distinct line of tears in her eyes but he saw no tear lines down her face. "Be true to who I am. Easier said than done sometimes," She smiled but Jim could see that there was no mirth in it.

"Olivia," Jim began to speak but he still had no idea what to say and stopped almost as soon as he had begun, but decided to try and go on when Olivia raised her eyebrows at him expectantly. "I … I lost my dad too. I mean not in the way you did, he didn't d-" Jim stopped speaking as he realised what he was about to say. Olivia closed her eyes and looked back out across the gorge while Jim mentally kicked himself. Breathing out a heavy sigh silently he attempted to begin speaking again but simply opened and closed his mouth several times before placing his fist to his lips. He_ really_ wasn't good at this. This was Ralph's territory.

After a few minutes of silence Jim turned his body to face Olivia and focused on what he was saying.

"What I mean is, I – Morph!"

"Huh?" Olivia looked up with a confused look on her face and jumped when Morph flew up to her face, stroking her cheek with his body. Jim couldn't help grinning at Olivia's face which held a mixture of surprise, bemusement and slight apprehension. Glancing at Jim Olivia smiled uncertainly and raised her hand gingerly to the floating shape shifter.

"Meet Morph," Jim said indicating to the creature.

Olivia gently poked Morph with her finger, making it jump back and wrap round her finger before flying and licking her face, making Olivia smile.

"He's like a puppy. Is it a he?" Olivia looked over at Jim who frowned at her question.

"Of course it's a …" She raised an eyebrow at Jim who continued to frown. Now she asked, he didn't know. Somewhere down the line Jim guessed he must have just assumed Morph was a he, but how could he tell? "I guess it's a mystery."

The two teenagers smiled at each other, their eyes holding each others gaze for a few moments. Olivia leaned in Jim was surprised to suddenly find himself with Olivia's arms round him holding him in a hug. For a few moments he remained still but soon he had his own arms wrapped around her as well, hugging her back. This was easier than talking.

While holding her Jim looked across the road, his eyes resting on an old looking shack. An idea sprung into his head and he stood up holding his hand out to Olivia who looked up at him curiously from her position on the floor.

"What?"

"Come on."

Grabbing her hand he pulled her up and headed over to the shack, Olivia following behind, and Morph floating excitedly behind her. Reaching the old building Olivia placed her hands on her hips, watching with a raised eyebrow as Jim pulled back the door and disappeared inside. Exchanging a look with the shape shifter Olivia peered inside the door.

It looked like a mechanics shop, a very dusty mechanics shop. In the middle was a solar surfer and Jim was releasing it from its restraints. Leaning against the doorframe Olivia smirked.

"What, you want me to fix it for you?" she teased, watching him pull the surfer out the door. Glancing at her he jumped on and held his hand out to her again.

"You want to come or not?"

She eyed the surfer seemingly studying it with her engineers' eye before, without Jim's help, hopping on behind him. Placing his foot behind her feet Jim held onto the handle, Olivia doing the same.

"Hold on tight."

Placing his heel down firmly the two teens shot forwards on the solar surfer. Olivia placed one arm round Jim's waist as the wind buffeted her hair and clothes and smiled as they were followed by a miniature version on the surfer, the Benbow disappearing rapidly behind them.

* * *

**Basically it's a bit of fluff, lets be honest (well that and some plot in there), but who doesn't love that? And I've not really written 'fluffy' stuff so that was a first for me. As always R&R and thanks for the reviews you guys have given on previous chappies!!**

**RHM**


	9. Remember?

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any parts of Treasure Planet; Jim Hawkins; Captain**** Amelia, Long John Silver; Interstellar Academy etc.**

**Okay I have an apology to make, I'm so sorry this story got kind of abandoned. There is the usual excuse of exams and family stuff but I also hit a huge block in this story. In other words I couldn't figure out how to proceed, so it kept getting put off. I originally wrote two other chapters of stuff but those got axed cause it just didn't work. BUT I'm back and have given myself the schedual of updating every Wednesday so I have a deadline to hit, and to make up for the severe lack of posting. I hope you guys will forgive me.**

**_AAAA - DREAMING._**

_AAAA - FLASHBACK._

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* * *

**

**'_You got the makings of greatness in you…'_**

A sharp knock at his door wrenched Jim out of his slumber. Muttering he pulled the covers over his head willing the intruder to go away. The knock came again followed by Delbert's voice.

"Jim, oh, Jim, are you up?"

Rolling over Jim found himself entangled in a mesh of blankets. Struggling to free him self Jim not so gracefully slid onto the floor, hitting it hard.

"Urgh."

"Jim, are you alright?" Delbert asked.

"Yeah," he said. If he ignored the throbbing in the back of the head he was just peachy.

"Well, we will be leaving in ten minutes, ready for another grand old adventure."

"Yeah."

Jim lay on the hard floorboards looking up at the ceiling. It wasn't one he recognised and as the fogginess of sleep dissipated he began to remember where he was.

He, Amelia, Delbert, Olivia and the president, along with a few other recruits had set off for the Space Port the previous night, deciding to rent some rooms. That way it was easier to get an early start;

Early start;

An early start for the voyage;

The important voyage to track down Caledonians; viscous pirates, killed the squadron, including Olivia's father;

Voyage that was leaving this morning, in ten minutes.

… Ten minutes!!

Jim's eyes shot open.

"Crap."

He jumped to his feet, kicking off the sheets in the process, stumbled to his shirt and trousers which were draped over a chair. Pulling them on he double checked his bag to make sure he had everything he came with and fled downstairs.

The Inn was old and rundown, with windows covered in a thick layer of dust, giving the Inn a murky interior. To Jim it was a direct contrast to the Benbow. He let his thoughts wander back to his mother, who had been left with Delbert's kids. It was agreed that Sarah would stay at Delberts house while they were away and she was going to hire some help at the Inn. Ben couldn't do it since he was currently sat down at the table with a cup of hot oil in front of him.

Since his encounter with the 'strange men who did things to him' Ben had taken to wearing a disguise. He was currently sat with a large rimmed hat and black cape draped over his shoulder, looking shiftily from side to side. Jim shook his head and sighed at the robot. The disguise was terrible as it was but it would be rendered useless if he couldn't keep his loud mouth shut.

"Jimmy! Jimmy!"

Jim removed his bag from his shoulder and sat down next to Ben.

"Yeah?"

"So what's the plan?" Ben had reduced his voice into a staged whisper, staring at Jim intently in an attempt at confidentiality.

Jim raised his eyebrows. "For what?"

"For getting from here to the ship." Ben lowered the rim of the hat over his eyes, scanning the other occupants of the room.

Jim suppressed the urge to groan at the robots antics, but he did allow for his hand to run over his face. The best way to deal with Ben, Jim had learnt was to humour him. "We gather our things, leave the Inn discretely," Jim locked eyes with Ben and lowered his voice, "and walk to the ship."

"That's a good plan, I like that plan. When do we execute it?"

"In about five minutes."

"Okay dokey Jimmy."

Ben's voice returned to its normal volume before Ben caught himself and taking one last glance around slumped down low in his chair. Jim smiled and waited for the others to arrive. He hadn't seen Olivia yet, which was odd. She was normally ready before him and waiting before the others had arrived. The five minutes stretched on and Jim's thoughts spent the entire time thinking about the Captain's niece.

On their trip to the town on Montressor Jim had seen a different side to the girl. Not the captains niece, not the best engineer at the academy, not the emotionally hardened space recruit; no he'd seen the seventeen year old girl who hadn't been to a festival before and was yanking his sleeve to make him go with her to a gaming stall and was grinning childishly.

* * *

"_Lets' see how good you are," Olivia held out a gun to Jim in challenge. Jim, looked down at the gun sceptically until he realised she was actually serious. Not being one to turn down a challenge he took the gun and pointed it at the stand of clay spheres. Aiming the pistol he shot and it shattered. _

"_Not bad." Olivia held up her own gun and mimicked Jim's action, shattering her own sphere as well. Spinning her gun casually in her fingers she looked up from under her lids and nodded at two more spheres. "Do two in a row."_

_Holding the gun up again Jim shot one and then another in succession and he then made the same bet with Olivia. And she did the same. Jim could see this going on for a long time. Neither of them was going to lose and if he had any grasp on Olivia he knew she wasn't going to just back down. _

"_Okay, one more. Just shoot that one," Olivia pointed to one of the closest spheres, right in front of Jim. He looked at it and raised an eyebrow._

"_That one?" There had to be a catch that was way to easy._

_Olivia looked up at him sweetly. "Yep. That one."_

_Jim eyed her warily but held up the gun in front of him. Closing his left eye he focused the shot and prepared to fire. Casually Olivia inched towards Jim and leant into him. She stood behind him slightly so he couldn't see her. Tilting her chin up she placed her lips close to his ear and whispered, her breath grazing his neck._

"_Don't miss."_

_He missed. Jim's grip slipped on the gun and accidentally shot a hole through the back of the stall. Rubbing the back of his neck he looked over at the unimpressed looking stall owner. Olivia stood next to him laughing and she placed some extra money down before pushing Jim away, still laughing softly as they walked away._

"_I do believe I told you not to miss."_

"_Yeah and I wouldn't if you hadn't breathed on me."_

"_You need to lean to work amidst distraction Mr Hawkins."_

"_When is that kind of distraction going to occur?"_

"_When I'm around clearly."_

_Jim looked down at Olivia and he noticed that her hair was out of her bun. It was pushed behind her ear on one side while on the other it rested against the side of her face. Out of it's bun it appeared to be a lot curlier. The lights from the stalls flashed around them, casting different glows on her skin and lighting up her large eyes._

"_What?"_

_Jim realised he had been watching her and he quickly averted his eyes, rubbing the back of his neck again. It had started to develop as a nervous reflex. _

"_Nothing. Come on."_

* * *

"Good morning Jim. Are you ready for another journey into the unknown? Who knows what kind of extraordinary things we will encounter this time."

Jim looked up at Delbert. To Jim's relief, the doctor hadn't opted to wear a large metallic space suit like last time. He liked the doc, he did, but that had been rather embarrassing.

"Hn. Where's Olivia, and the Captain?"

"Oh Jim did I forget to say? Amelia and Olivia left early this morning. Something about checking over the ship, I was still half asleep when they told me, so it'll just be us making our way, just like the old times."

"Yeah. Let's go."

"Oh erm, Jimmy. Do you want to you know, just check to make sure it's safe? You know, no men outside the door waiting to … jump me."

Ben walked directly behind Jim so that he could feel Ben's feet kicking his heel with every step he took. Pushing the door open Jim made an open gesture of searching the area surrounding the Inn.

"It's safe."

Tentatively Ben stepped out of the door, double checking for himself. Jim ran a hand through his hair as he watched the robot. He didn't think it would be a good idea to point out that Ben was attracting more attention to himself by checking it was 'safe'.

"Oh I forgot my camera," Delbert said. He had his head hidden inside his bag while he rummaged around inside it. "Must have left it in the room."

"I'll get it," Jim said, hurrying back inside the inn. He was anxious to leave, to get back out into open space. They had been warned of the dangers that came with the mission, but right now that seemed such a far away possibility.

Opening the door to the doctors room Jim quickly surveyed the room for the camera. It was situated on top of the dresser. Jim made his way over to it. The door slammed behind him and Jim immediately changed into defence mode, spinning round and raising his arms up in front of him. A large figure loomed in the shadows in the corner of the room. Jim glared at the figure, daring them to come forwards.

They did, and Jim stared back in shock, his hands lowering and fists unclenching. His voice caught in his throat and his brain couldn't quite comprehend what he was seeing. It couldn't be.

"You've grown up lad."

"Silver," Jim whispered.

The camera lay next to Jim, its presence completely forgotten.

* * *

**OMG Silver??? Yes for those of you who were wondering when he was arriving, there he is . The flashback was part of the original two chapters I wrote but I felt I needed some interaction between Jim and Olivia somewhere so it got put back in. **

**I'm also putting up some background info on the characters of Olivia, Ralph, Emma etc on my profile to give some more ideas of what they're like - yes Jim's friends are coming back!**

**Please review letting me know if this story is at all still enjoyed.**

**RHM**


	10. Say What?

**Silver and Jimmy. Not much else to say.**

* * *

"Silver."

A heart beat passed whereby the two men looked at each other, Jim still unsure as to whether his eyes were tricking him.

"Surprised lad?"

Surprised didn't quite cover it.

"Something like that," Jim's voice sounded weaker than he would have liked.

Silver laughed deep in his throat and emerged fully from the shadows. The first thing Jim noticed was that he looked older. More weary, as though he had been through one too many battles. His eye had lost any sparkle it used to hold and his cyborg eye even seemed to be a dull metal. In two strides Jim crossed the room and gave Silver a tight embrace. Smiling Silver patted Jim on the back. A few moments passed before he coughed and pulled back.

"Easy there Jimbo, you're getting dust in me cyborg eye again."

Jim couldn't help but smile. His head was buzzing with questions he wanted to ask his old friend, his mentor, practically his _father._ His mouth had opened to begin the torrent of questions however Silver beat him to it.

"I must admit this is not how I would have liked to have met you again Jimbo, we're a bit short on time,"

The camera. Jim glanced at the device and then briefly at the window. Delbert or Ben would undoubtedly come looking for him in a minute otherwise they really would be late for the launch. Jim felt an annoying conflict of interest. He didn't want to miss the launch, or risk having people find Silver with him, but then how would he know he would ever see Silver again.

"So I'm going to need to ask you about those notes you've been receiving."

"It was you. You've been sending me these," Jim pulled out a note from his pocket. Silver gave a rueful smile and nodded. "Why? What are they anyway?"

"They're coordinates."

Jim frowned. "Coordinates for what?"

"Listen lad. Those Caledonians aren't a bunch of amateur rogues, they're devious evil pirates," Silver laughed again, this time genuinely amused, "They're the embodiment of how we used to be when we ruled the skies,"

Jim flinched when Silver included himself in the 'we'. He had to remind himself that though Silver was good to him, but it didn't change who he was; a pirate. Jim's depressed thoughts quickly returned to the present as Silver continued on.

"And the voyage you're about to go on, it's gonna be dangerous Jimbo."

"That still doesn't explain about the coordinates."

Silver smiled again, amused at Jim's determination to get to the point of a conversation. Act, don't talk. A trait of his own as well as Jim's. He remained silent as he walked to the window and peered out from behind the thin curtain.

"The Caledonians have a weapon lad, one which will blow you and your friends all the way to Kingdom come and beyond. Those coordinates will bring you to an item which can destroy it."

Jim looked down at the piece of paper in his hand. '2456', was written in the center, nothing else.

"2456," Jim repeated. His tone held an edge of disbelief, as well as slight fear with the confirmed knowledge that whoever the Caledonians were, they meant business.

Silver shook his head.

"That's only part of it. You still have the other notes Jimbo?"

Jim nodded. They were tucked away in his bag.

"Each coordinate takes you to a different location. Now see here, the Caledonians know about this item Jimbo. It couldn't be completely destroyed, so they dismantled it and hid the parts in different locations across the galaxy. Each coordinate will take you to a different part."

Sighing Jim rubbed his eyes. His apprehension for the voyage was growing with every passing minute and it looked like stopping the army of pirates was going to be more than just a flight and a fight.

"And you want me to find the pieces and build this … thing."

"No lad, you do."

A sharp knock on the door broke through the tense silence in the room. Jim silently cursed. It was time to go, but his head was spinning unable to put together a straight thought with the information he had just received. This was a lot more complicated than he could have ever thought. Expecting Delbert to be on the other side of the door Jim hastily called out.

"Yeah just a sec."

"Jim the ship is leaving in five minutes whether we're on it or not," a female voice called through the door. Jim lunged for the camera and jumped towards the door, blocking the entrance just as Olivia opened the door. She was frowning and glared at him as he casually leant against the doorframe. "What have you been doing in here?" she asked.

"Getting the camera," Jim held it up, speaking as relaxed as possible.

"Well hurry up!" Olivia hissed.

Snatching the camera from him she turned and walked quickly back across the landing. He watched her retreat for a moment, briefly wondering why she had returned, then turned back to the room only to find it empty. His heart dropped as realisation hit that he hadn't been able to say bye, or even properly talk to Silver. Despite himself he couldn't help but feel a small amount of resentment towards Olivia. If she hadn't come to get him he could have had a moment more with Silver.

He was about to leave when on the bed he noticed another note. Already he was sick of them.

Picking it up it hit Jim that this was probably going to be the extent of the relationship he would ever have with Silver again; random pieces of paper with numbers. Well, it was better than nothing, right? Yeah, right.

'_You've still got greatness in you Jimbo. Keep a sharp eye.'_

Jim pocketed the note and flew out the door. He had four minutes to get to the ship and then to figure out how to convince the crew to go with him on a Treasure Hunt.

No problem.

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**That chapter was shorter than the others, mainly because I had such problems with it! And it's important so it gets it's own chapter. Writing Silver in character AND having him doing the exposition is really quite tricky. Let me know if you didn't understand it - I tried to make it as clear as possible. Sorry if Silver is quite OOC.**

**RHM**


	11. Whelp Ship

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any part of Treasure Planet: Jim Hawkins, planets that features in the film, characters etc. OC though however are mine: Ralph, Emma. Olivia and Bill.**

**I bet many thought I had abandoned this story. Never! I love writing this. So I'm very sorry that it's taken me so long to update. I also started university last year and that has given me a ridiculously busy timetable :( For you guys here is a brand spanking new chapter!! Hopefully it's still the same quality as the others.

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**

"Ready to pay up?"

Bill stood watching the street, a satisfied smirk on his face. Next to him Ralph leant against the wood his eyes searching for Jim. He didn't bother looking at Bill.

"Don't get cocky, I've still got … twenty seconds," he muttered the last bit. Twenty seconds wasn't looking very promising and the ship was slowly rising but Ralph wasn't one to give up until absolutely necessary.

"Since when is Jim late?" Bill asked.

Ralph shrugged. "Dunno maybe he got a little pre- there they are! Yes!"

He yelled and pointed down at the street to where Jim and Olivia had just burst out of an alley and were currently sprinting towards the ship.

"Mr Combe what is the meaning of your absurd yellings?" Amelia looked down at the young man from the helm.

Upon arriving at the ship Amelia had been informed that she would be voyaging with the young recruits from the Academy. The President was adamant that there were as many people as possible involved in the war against the Caledonians. Calling it a 'war' had been prevented as long as possible but the growing threat meant that they could no longer deny the serious situation they were in. As a result Amelia was in charge of the 'whelp ship' as it had been affectionately named.

"A Mr Hawkins and Miss Beaufort approaching at speed 'Mam."

"Ten, nine, eight, seven," Bill began to count down even as Jim and Olivia jumped onto the ramp.

"Shut up Bill," A sharp cleft to the back of his head shut Bill up and he sent an evil glare at Emma. She ignored the glare and turned to watch Jim and Olivia as they soared onto the deck, just as the ship lifted up into the air.

Ralph grinned triumphant and held out a hand to his friend who begrudgingly placed several coins in it. Still smirking he held out a hand for Jim who lay on his back staring opened mouthed at his friend.

"Surprised to see me mate?"

A wave of déjà vu swept over Jim, having been asked the very same question by Silver less than half an hour ago. Grasping Ralph's hand the déjà vu increased by his own response,

"Something like that. What are you doing here?"

"We're going to war apparently," Emma said leaning against the rail, her arms folded across her chest.

"Don't worry about it, I'll be here to protect you," Ralph said wrapping an arm around Emma's shoulders. The action earned him a sneer and a quick shove.

Jim watched them all, still unsure how to react with everyone he knew suddenly popping up. A quick glance to his right showed him that Olivia wasn't among them and a strange sensation stirred in his stomach. He hadn't been watching her when they jumped onto the ship, but Jim had just assumed that she had landed next to him. His mind whirred with the possibility that she hadn't reached the ship. The rational part of his mind told him that she was probably more adept at leaping than him, but the annoying sense of panic was winning right now.

"If you guys are quite finished perhaps we could take off sometime soon."

Jim whirled round at the sound of her voice. Olivia walked down the stairs that led to the steering platform. He hid his relief, telling himself his body was acting strange due to stress. Still he had to ask.

"Where did you go?"

"To give uncle Delbert the camera," she spoke as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, and when he thought on it, it was. Around him the crew had taken up their stations and Jim felt the rumbling of the engines beneath his feet. At least it _was_ beneath his feet. Now he was currently floating several feet above the deck.

"Mr Combe engage the artificial gravity if you would," Amelia's voice called out from above. In an instant Jim was back on hard wood but before he properly adjusted he was flung backwards. The ship shot into outer space and Jim saw stars that didn't belong to the solar systems swim in front of his eyes.

Amelia steered the ship along the launch highways, years of practice making it easy for her to avoid any other ships. Delbert stood by her side, his eyes closed to the wind that blew around his ears. She smiled at her husband. A thought strayed to her children and a sharp pang hit her heart. Leaving them was never easy for her and then it was only for stints at the academy but now, now she couldn't even wager a guess as to when she would see them again. Amelia's hardened mentality wouldn't even let her comprehend the possibility that she might not ever see them again.

A moan echoed above drawing Amelia back to the present. Delbert pointed at the creatures flying by.

"Oh look. Orcus Galacticus'. You know I never thought I'd see them again."

Amelia chuckled.

"Do you remember what happened last time doctor?"

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean Captain."

Delbert stood in an affronted manner, haughtily holding his nose in the air but quickly dropped the façade and tapped Amelia affectionately on the nose. In response she briefly rested her head on his shoulder.

"Right, now all the niceties are done with I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to make yourself useful elsewhere. I have many things to do."

Delbert understood Amelia's captain demeanour and promptly left her to take charge. This was her territory, and outside her cabin she was first and foremost the Captain. Their little moment before was allowed as the crew was currently more interested in the creatures which swam by the ship than what the captain was up to.

"Oh and doctor, would you mind clearing my ship of the debris."

Delbert saluted to Amelia and walked towards the 'debris'. Jim, Olivia, Ralph, Emma, Bill and several other young members of the crew lay sprawled in a heap on deck having been thrown across the ship when it launched.

"Captains orders get up off the deck."

"We're trying."

Jim pulled his leg free and stumbled up right. They were now fully clear of the space port and people had assumed their posts. As Jim looked around the deck he realised that he noticed many of the people on deck from his classes.

"Is the whole academy involved in this?"

"You bet. This is the young mans ship!"

"The what?"

Ralph glanced at Emma who had her eyebrow raised reproachfully. He moved over to her and draped an arm over her shoulders.

"I meant the young woman's ship!"

"The what?"

Bill frowned at Ralph, his arms crossed imitating Emma's look. Olivia hid a snicker behind her hand as Ralph glared at Bill.

"Fine it's the young persons' ship …. Oh forget it the moments gone."

"You'll get another one," Jim patted Ralph on the back then shouldered his pack and headed below deck.

"I got top hammock."

"Like hell you do."

Olivia and Emma watched as the boys ran down the stairs, pushing and yelling. The two girls glanced at each other. Emma shrugged her shoulders.

"Side by side?"

"Sounds good to me."

* * *

Jim sat at one of the tables, sheets of paper spread out in front of him holding the coordinates given to him by Silver. He had written down all the things his old mentor had told him earlier that day to make sure he didn't forget them and now he was trying to get his head round exactly what it was that Silver wanted of him. To build a machine that would destroy a deadly weapon. Jim threw his pen down. How was he going to do that?

For the first time since he had been pulled into the war Jim felt overwhelmed and very intimidated. And he also felt alone. He was thankful more than he could say that he had his mates with him, but Jim knew he couldn't burden them with even more fear. They were already scared. None of them would admit it but they were. It was a war after all. To tell them that they had to destroy a weapon which, if they didn't, would obliterate them wasn't something he wanted to do. The only person Jim had contemplated telling was Olivia since he believed she was more likely to see the situation with a strategic outlook. But that idea had long since gone out the window,

_"Caledonians ... most of them were pirates, and pirates are despicable in themselves ..."_

No, Jim knew who he had to confide in, he just didn't want to. Groaning Jim rubbed his face, pocketed the pieces of paper and headed towards the Captains cabin. Standing outside the door he exhaled heavily and hung his head as he knocked on the door.

'_Be busy, be busy, be busy …'_

"Enter."

"Dammit …"

Jim entered the cabin and quietly closed the door. He didn't move in any further but remained by the door. Amelia was pouring over a map. The projection hung in the middle of the room and a miniature ship was charting an invisible course. The sight made Jim feel even more uncomfortable as he was about to attempt to disrupt the already set course.

"Captain."

Amelia held up a finger to Jim indicating she was still busy. He waited for her to finish, his hands fingering the paper. Finally she closed down the map and settled behind her desk.

"Yes Mr Hawkins?"

"I need to talk to you."

She indicated for him to come forward. Jim took out the notes and placed them down in front of her. He waited while she scanned them and raised an eyebrow at him.

"We need to go where this," Jim picked up one of the coordinates and waved it, "takes us."

Amelia watched the piece of paper Jim shook but when she looked up at him he was met with the same sceptical look as before.

"I know it sounds stupid but just trust me, we have to follow these coordinates. It'll help us in this war."

"Where are these from?"

Jim halted. He had anticipated the question but now he found he didn't really want to answer it. He remained silent, deciding that if he could he would keep Silver's reappearance a secret. He had never found out how Amelia had reacted to Silver getting away, or of his involvement in it and he wasn't sure he wanted to.

"Mr Hawkins," Amelia reprimanded.

"A friend. Someone we can trust."

"I'm afraid I need more information than that to go gallooting off around the galaxy."

Jim closed his eyes but remained quiet, silently battling within himself. At his lack of response Amelia stood up and began to extract Jim from her office. He had no choice but to give in.

"It's from Silver."

If Amelia was surprised or angry Jim couldn't tell. She kept an impassive face as she faced him and he began to wonder if he was going to get into trouble for associating with a pirate when she didn't respond for several moments. Finally she spoke.

"So you want me to act against the orders of the space corporation which commands us to rendevou with other ships to sort out a solution to win this war on the intelligence of a pirate who attempted to kill three people on this ship on a previous voyage?"

Jim avoided her gaze and chose instead to stare at the floor. Her phrasing made him realise how foolish his suggestion sounded and her scrutiny was making him uncomfortable. But he couldn't help thinking that they needed to do as Silver instructed. The old pirate cared about him, he wouldn't send him off into harm, and Jim told the captain so but she wouldn't yield to him.

"I am sorry Mr Hawkins, I have my orders."

With that she opened the door indicating for Jim to leave. Gathering up the papers Jim left, pushing past Amelia without showing her any respect. He was too frustrated at her, at himself and his uselessness, at the whole situation. He headed below deck crumpling the papers in his tight fist, determined to get the captain to listen to him one way or another. A feeling was growing in his gut, an instinct that their course wasn't right and nothing good was coming of it.

Amelia stood watching Jim vanish down below. She had feared that that worthless pirate would come back someday and now she had been proven correct. What struck her as odd though was his apparent intention to help them in. Although he was looking to help Jim, Jim was opposing the pirates and thus to help him was to help the space recruits. She stood pondering this a while until Olivia arrived at her side, looking toward where Jim had gone.

"What was that all about?"

"A difference of opinion is all."

"About what?"

Amelia didn't respond. Instead she briefly squeezed Olivia's shoulder and went back into her office leaving her niece alone glancing between her aunts' door and Jim. She could tell it was something more than that, something that happened before she ever knew of Jim. Olivia had never seen Amelia and Jim interact at the academy, only really having the connection through the Legacy voyage and Delbert. Climbing back up to the crows' nest Olivia pondered the situation but she already knew she was going to figure out what was going on, one way or another ...

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**I was so happy to bring Ralph back! He's the funnest character to write (barring Ben of course). I have brief profiles of my characters on my page if you guys want to check them out. Reviews too, reviews are yummie!! **

**Isaac A. Drake**** - I re-read the story before writing more and I agree that the first four chapters were a little confusing to read. I'm planning on re-writing those at some point to get the story flowing better.**


	12. The Importance of Miss Kitty

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DISCLAIMER: I do not own any parts of Treasure Planet; Jim Hawkins; Captain Amelia, Long John Silver; Interstellar Academy etc.

**Officially the longest chapter written and the most difficult. I admit this story was back shelved severely but I got emails alerting me to people adding my story and I decided to re-read the reviews I got, reminding myself that people did like the story! So I ask as a favour if you like it review for me! It really helps me shove me into writing more. So I hope you enjoy it as always.**

Far away, tucked in a corner of the Galaxy, surrounded by a mirage of asteroid fields and sun shrouds a small planet lay silent. Kept lit by two low suns the planets surface boasted green and purple moors, interrupted only by streams, lakes and rivers all flowing into a large ocean, the liquid expanse covering half of the planets surface. An uninhabited location, the moors' grass was long and unkempt, the atmosphere one of wild freedom.

Accompanying the vast wilderness were seemingly random arrays of boulders and rocks marking the planets beautiful face. Viewing this arrangement of nature flew one of the planets few occupants; a large russet bird, its beak and feet a deep gold, with long feathers creating a tail trailing behind in the wind. It was this magnificent creature that Commander Beaufort last laid his eyes on before his captures dragged him underground.

With his arms tied painfully behind his back the Commander was led down a dirt corridor, clearly excavated by the pirates that now occupied it. He attempted to remember the route he was being led down but the underground maze had been purposefully built with hundreds of turnings, clearly designed to disorientate anyone who was not a resident. After fifteen minutes of walking he had lost the route to find his way back out again and instead focused on any differences that occurred along the way to give him self a small advantage should he escape.

There weren't many. Doors looked the same in each new passage, and the one that was opened for him was no different. The burly pirate who still had hold of him shoved him forcefully into the bleak cell, making the commander stumble against the wall, his bound hands preventing him from steadying him self.

"Our leader will be with you shortly," the pirate said, slamming the door and locking it loudly. Moving to the door the Commander watched the pirate disappear down the passage, his throaty laughter echoing long after he left his prisoner in darkness.

* * *

Poring over an array of maps on the table in front of him, the pirate captain awaited the arrival of his second in command. The news that the commander of the fleet had been captured had arrived quickly and he was becoming impatient. Everything was falling into place. Information from his scouts had given the pirate captain a sudden hand of leverage; one of the ships joining the Space Corporations' fleet had a particularly useful passenger. The Captain grinned, spearing his knife down on the map in an act of triumph. Yes, everything was going perfectly.

"Come in," he called in response to the knock at his door. Looking up he saw his second in command enter; the pirate who had put the Commander in his cell.

"Is he here?"

"Yes sir."

"Good, I'll see him now," the Captain rose, pulling his knife from the map and picking up something else that grabbed the other mans attention.

"Wouldn't it be a good idea to let him wait a while? Grow fearful?" The pirate looked down at his feet as his captain turned and glared at him, "Sir."

"Rique, no amount of waiting will instil as much fear as what I have right here," the Captain held up what looked to Rique like a photograph and his lack of understanding was exposed plainly on his face. The Captain sighed irritably.

"You don't get to a man like the Commander through protocol … you do it through his family."

* * *

Olivia lay in her hammock, golden clouds flouting around the ship casting the cabin in a soft glow. Filled with tiny reflectory pigments the clouds reflected light from suns hundreds of miles away giving the illusion of sunshine. Olivia thought them exceptionally beautiful. Through the hatch light shone onto her face and Olivia shifted as it landed painfully across her eyes. It had been two weeks since their departure from the Space Port and the crew had begun to fall into a quiet lethargy and despite the beauty surrounding the ship, no one on board really noticed.

As routines were performed and chores were completed, the same tasks day after day, the young crew members had more opportunity for their minds to wander. More specifically to think about what lay in wait once they reached the meeting point. A small moon, the meeting point for the Space Corporation was favoured for its dark climate making it an ideal spot for secret affairs. In order to protect the moon from invaders the location was only known by the high officials, Amelia and Olivia's father being two of them. Amelia didn't know however that Olivia also knew the moons location…

_Olivia ran up to her father and threw herself into his arms. He was leaving again, she knew he was, but she wasn't going to let him. When he attempted to loosen her from him she merely gripped onto him harder._

'_You promised!'_

'_I know but this is really important. I've been summoned by important people.'_

_Olivia shook her head still refusing to let go._

'_I'm important too and I'm telling you to stay here.'_

_Sighing Commander Beaufort gripped Olivia's wrists and gently pried her from his neck. Her face was wet with tears and he smiled as small hiccups sounded from her throat. _

'_Please?' She pleaded, looking up at him with huge eyes._

'_I can't kitten, you know that,' gently he wiped a lock of hair that had stuck to her damp cheeks. It was a gesture familiar with Olivia he always did it when he was leaving. To her it had become a bad gesture so angrily she slapped his hand away. _

'_How are these missions more important than me?'_

_The Commander looked at his daughter for a long moment feeling his heart wrench at the look of utter despair in her eyes. Olivia was the man's world and since the death of her mother that fact had only intensified. He never admitted it but it broke him every time he was called on stealth missions for the Corporation and had to leave her behind. A call from outside alerted him to his convoy outside, ready to take him to the port. _

'_Olivia,' gently he reached out to hug her again but she backed away, running over to his bag and pulling it with her to the door. 'Olivia what are you doing?'_

'_If you don't have your bag,' Olivia spoke between breaths as she disappeared behind the door, 'you can't go!' Briskly he made his way over to her and through her struggles got her to look at him holding her softly by the shoulders. The hiccups returned as tears lined her cheeks again. 'At least tell me where you're going.'_

'_I can't Ol-'_

'_Because then I can look up at the stars and know that your not all that far away.'_

_Beaufort blinked in surprise at her sudden change. Instead of sadness and anger her face held an expression more aptly compared to defiant. He grinned as a feeling of pride welled inside him and he tugged playfully on her wavy hair. _

'_You're not letting me go without a fight tonight are you?'_

_Shaking her head vigorously Olivia folded her arms defiantly over her chest, a smile forming at the corners of her mouth for the first time that night when she knew she had at least won something. Ignoring the calls from outside the commander sat down opposite his daughter and explained the location of the moon he would be stationed at. In that moment Olivia didn't let any of the details he explained slip by her, determined that when she was old enough she would be able to follow him out there so that he wouldn't leave her again. _

And how ironic it was that, as she lay swinging in her hammock, the memory lingering in her mind, she was on her way to the one place she had wanted to travel to all her life, and her father wasn't there.

Wrapped in her thoughts Olivia failed to notice another presence entering the cabin and was unmercifully wrenched from her reverie by a familiar hyperactive robot suddenly appearing beside her.

"Argh!"

Feeling her heart ram into her ribcage in shock Olivia bolted upright and in an attempt to move away from Ben, slid onto the floor in a tangled heap, a pain spreading through her leg as she landed on it awkwardly. On the other side of the hammock Ben yelled in surprise at Olivia's scream and, not quite sure why she didn't stop, Olivia quickly found herself in a yelling contest with the robot.

"Argh!"

"Argh."

"Argh!"

"Argh, Ben!"

"Argh."

"BEN!"

From her position on the floor Olivia managed to land a satisfying smack across Ben's face. The sharp contact with metal left a sting on her hand but she took a small pleasure in seeing his head spin round, the cogs in his neck grinding at the odd movement.

"Oh thanks, I needed that," Ben said gripping his head and blinking a few times. Olivia had the impression it would take a lot more than a few head spins to sort the robot out properly. Rubbing her leg she stood and began straightening her hammock which twisted in her fall.

"Is something wrong Ben?"

Ben looked at her confused for a moment, taking time to remember if anyone had told him that something was wrong. Still pondering he jumped onto the hammock as Olivia finished unravelling it, casually placing his hands behind his head, seemingly oblivious to her unimpressed expression.

"Er no, I can't think of anything."

"Then why were you screaming?"

"Well you did startle me a little and … I didn't scream okay," Ben scoffed, brandishing his hands for emphasis, "That's, you know, a little bit girly."

"Really? Oh, ok."

Indicating that she was going up on deck Olivia left Ben to relax on her hammock. Lately the robot had been sporting the notion that he was a 'tough guy', or as close as he could be. As such screaming clearly wasn't on the cards but the problem for Ben was no one on ship was buying his act. He seemed to be occupied with a new bizarre notion every week and, not having known the robot for very long, Olivia didn't know whether it was his nature or if it had something to do with his strange markings. Olivia made a mental note to ask someone about it. As she reached the stairs Olivia turned slowly, careful to be extra light on her feet. Ben had begun humming to himself, the hammock now swaying gently beneath him, failing to notice the young lady silently creeping up on him from behind. Mulling over several words in her mind Olivia finally decided upon a classic scare call.

"Boo!"

Laughter erupted out of her throat as a high pitched yelp sounded from Ben and the robot jumped into the air, his eyes popping out of his head. Clinging onto the rafters he glared down at Olivia who lay shaking on the floor in laughter.

"Olivia?"

Olivia stopped laughing, turning her head to see an upside down Jim stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking at her with a quizzical expression. Feeling a familiar rush flow through her stomach she gently cleared her throat, making an attempt to regain some grace as she stood, subconsciously running her hand through her hair.

"Oh hey Jim," she said casually, ignoring his gaze. He stepped forward with wariness held in his eyes. Olivia guessed that seeing her lying hysterically on the floor was more than a little bit odd to him. Since the start of the voyage Olivia had purposefully retained a professional demeanour around Jim, not letting herself become to open, and certainly not allowing herself to be caught playing daft tricks on the resident robot. She told herself it was easier this way, that when they were flung into battle she would be emotionally distant enough from Jim not to be constantly worrying about him. The part of Olivia's mind that told her if she exercised no control around Jim he would figure out she had a crush on him was well squashed down. She had been reminded on several occasions that she was hopeless at hiding her feelings, and on a ship there were very few places to hide from someone.

So now, having regained her composure, leaning against a small table, arms crossed casually across her stomach, she smiled up at the young man watching as he closed the gap between them, stopping two feet away.

"What's so funny?" he asked glancing around.

Olivia shrugged while silently wondering how long she had before Ben dropped down and gave her away.

"Nothing."

"Ha! Argh-oh!"

A crash behind her answered her query. Biting her tongue Olivia fought the laugh that threatened the burst out, covering her mouth with her hand while the laugh turned into small shakes in her chest. In front of her Jim had watched as Ben fell from the ceiling, his usual yelp accompanying the fall. Yet it wasn't the robot lying in a metal heap on the floor that he watched. It was Olivia who continued to uselessly hide her laughter.

Jim hadn't been oblivious the past two weeks of her odd behaviour. For the first couple of days she had been as she was now, giggling and alluring, making Jim feel the odd need to spend time with her. He had even purposefully sought her company, enjoying the relief she gave him from simply being … her. The decision whether to tell her about Silver's instructions still battled within him and at one stage he had made a decision. He was going to tell her, try and get her to help him. And then she had changed, becoming distant and business like, just the same as, he realised with some chagrin, Captain Amelia.

He had continued to watch her, how she acted around the other members of the crew, desperately trying to figure out if the reason for her change had anything to do with him, though he couldn't fathom any reason why it would be. Over a few days of observing her Jim felt his mood decrease as he watched her laugh and joke with Emma, finding it no problem to be herself around the other girl. However, that he had managed to handle, putting it down to a girl thing, but when he had seen Olivia sat showing Bill the swarm of creatures passing the ship when she had previously blanked him Jim had felt an small twinge of anger. What had he done? The fact that Ralph had noticed him watching Olivia hadn't helped his mood either.

"Are you actually going to talk to her, or shall we just stare at her a little longer? I mean I don't mind the staring," Ralph had added when Jim ignored him. Re-tying the rope in his hands Jim glared at his friend.

"I'm not staring."

"Alright then, you're observing, but you've been watching the girl for days. You're never going to get her to like you if you don't talk to her." Fed up of Jim ignoring him Ralph took the rope out of his hands.

"Look, you don't get it. I just want to know why she's gone all distant."

"Well have you asked her?"

Jim's silence answered the question and giving a satisfied nod Ralph picked his moment to walk away, leaving Jim to resent the day Ralph had got to be so smug.

"Ben," Jim said as a statement more than a question.

"Hey Jimmy," Ben responded stumbling to his feet, holding onto his hip. In an exaggerated effort he threw himself onto Jim, clinging on his neck. "Psst," Jim flinched at Ben's not so quiet whisper in his ear, "I have a few tricks up my sleeve for this one," he pointed a finger at Olivia who stood motionless smirking at the robot. "You want in?"

Jim watched Olivia, holding her gaze when she locked her eyes with his. A small smile graced her lips and Jim found that, now he was in close proximity with her for more than a few seconds, he was studying her face. In her expression all Jim could see was mischief and he felt a stirring in his stomach, a ray of hope that she wasn't being distant anymore.

After a few moments Jim found his voice. Grabbing onto Ben's arms he removed the robot from around his neck, "Maybe later."

"Okay," Ben backed away toward the stairs, glaring at Olivia.

Olivia watched Ben leave, conscious of every last step the robot took, each step bringing her closer to the moment she would be alone with Jim. Jim seemed to notice as well, as he continued to look after the robot long after he had disappeared. Silence stretched out between them, neither one wanting to break the quiet. In the end it was Olivia who did so.

"So," Jim looked up at the sound of her voice, and he felt the familiar sensation of disappointment when he saw she was looking away from him her body tense, looking ready to leave. "I have things to do on deck, I'd better be going."

"Olivia," Jim made to grab her hand before she sailed completely past him and was so intent on keeping her from disappearing off he hadn't comprehended what to do beyond the moment.

"Jim."

"Can I talk to you?"

Olivia's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Um, ok."

Sitting back down on her hammock Olivia mused that it was where she had started from, the only difference that she had gone from thinking about one problem with one important man in her life to another.

"I need your help."

Olivia looked up in surprise, her eyes wide Jim's words taking her by surprise. A rising curiosity quickly grew within her, enhanced by Jim's seriousness, the feeling accompanied by a burn of happiness that he had come to her. Shoving the silly feeling away she nodded eagerly, curiosity still welling within her.

"Yeah of course, what is it?"

"One thing," Jim held up a hand indicating that he either needed a minute to compose himself or he needed something else from her, Olivia wasn't quite sure. She sat watching him pace, his hands running through his hair then resting on his hips, then in his hair again. His expression looked troubled a frown evident on his brow and Olivia contemplated if she should go over and hold his hands, try and calm him down.

'_No!'_ she chided, that was the sort of thing she was not supposed to be doing. Yet as she looked at Jim again he was still agitated, clearly torn over something and Olivia commenced another argument in her own mind. In the end she made up her mind. Standing up she walked over to Jim and in a quick movement stepped in front of him grabbing his hands and lacing her fingers through his. Her action made him stop immediately and for a moment Olivia contemplated removing her hands, her fingers even twitching in preparation but she forced herself to stay where she was and after a couple of attempts she caught his gaze in her own. He had a look in his eyes she couldn't quite pinpoint.

"Jim, what's wrong?"

"I can trust you right?" he asked his tone and expression both deadly serious. Unable to speak Olivia simply nodded panic beginning to enter her pile of mixed feelings. "And do you trust me?"

Olivia felt a chill run down her spine. She hadn't seen Jim this serious once in the past month and the sudden change sent a tirade of situations through her mind. One in particular came to her, one she had forgotten and she subconsciously glanced toward the stairs.

"Jim does this have anything to do with your meeting with aun-"

The sudden tightening of his grip caused Olivia to snap her gaze back to Jim, her breath catching in her throat when he stepped closer to her, forcing her chest to touch his. Closing her eyes she prayed that he couldn't feel her heartbeat quicken, willing her self to ignore the invisible punch to her gut at his closeness.

"Do you trust me Olivia?"

She didn't need to open her eyes to imagine the pleading in his but she forced her self to do so anyway.

Jim waited breathlessly for her answer, willing her to say yes. Somehow his quest to find out if he had done something to annoy her had turned into him throwing everything into her trust. The feeling that something bad was going to happen soon still lingered with him, haunting him at night and keeping him awake and seeing Olivia and Ben having fun hit him with the realisation that the people he was close to might get hurt if he didn't do something soon. Whether or not it was that realisation that had suddenly changed his mind, after previously choosing not to involve her, he wasn't sure, all he did know was that if she said no he was severely screwed. There was no way she would let this rest if she decided not to help him until he spilled his information anyway.

"Yes. Jim I trust you."

Jim let out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding. Relief flooded over him as he hung his head, a small smile breaking through his serious demeanour. He tried not to feel overwhelmed by the task that still lay ahead, instead trying to focus on the fact that he wasn't completely on his own anymore.

A soft hand on his shoulder brought Jim back to his current situation and he looked up to find Olivia stood in front of him, very close one hand resting on his arm, the other still entwined through his. Jim stood frozen, barely moving his chest in an attempt to keep it from pressing against hers, the rhythm of his heart increasing to beat against his ribcage. The back of his neck grew warm as his throat became dry. All in all, he felt very awkward now the strain had gone from the situation and he didn't have any logical explanation to be stood so close to her.

Olivia felt Jim's body become rigid under her hand and she tensed in response, knowing she should move away but not knowing how to without making the moment more awkward. Clearing her throat she looked up at Jim from under her lashes.

"Jim?"

Jim looked back down at her, still maintaining his rigid position,

"Yeah?"

"I, um …"

Before Olivia could begin to string together a sentence a high pitched whistled pierced the air, increasing in volume until the two teens let go of each other to cover their ears. Knowing the sounds' origin Olivia looked at Jim, her eyes wide with fear. Jim caught her gaze with the same expression and in a poor attempt at a shield grabbed her, all thoughts of awkwardness gone, pulling her to the ground beneath him just as the ship shook violently, wooden shards exploding across the cabin.

Olivia covered her head, curling into a ball beneath Jim as the ship was struck. Immediately all the training the two of them had ever received came to them and within seconds Jim was sprinting with Olivia above deck. A strong wind blew Jim's hair around his face as he took in the scene around him. Two ships flanked their own, the masts hoisting flags that Jim recognised with a hard shock; the same marking that was on Ben.

"Caledonians …"

* * *

Commander Beaufort glared at the Captain, unconditional anger surging inside him. He had been shackled to the wall upon the Captain's arrival and was now struggling against his restraints with every ounce of strength he ever had.

"Come, come Eric," the Captain said. He stood slouched lazily against the wall, fingering the photograph in his hand. "It's simple enough all I want to know is how many of you know where the device is."

"What device?"

The Captain sighed. When he spoke it was weary, boredom laced through his words. "The device that will destroy our weapon that we built to destroy all of you ... and that we hid in various places, haven't I been over this?"

Commander Eric Beaufort remained silent. How the Caledonian's had heard about the device he didn't know but he would be damned if he would reveal the information. The information was classified and Eric wasn't about to be responsible for the death of thousands of people.

"She is very pretty, if a little bit feline for my taste."

"You son of a bitch!"

The Captain moved away from the wall and stood in front of Eric all mirth gone from his face, replaced by a cool seriousness. "Tell me who knows and she'll live."

"People with the knowledge are all over the Galaxy, you'll never find us all."

"We'll see," turning his back on Eric the Captain beckoned Rique into the cell. Stepping into the room Rique ignored their prisoner though Eric studied him as quickly as he could committing his face to memory. "Send the signal," the Captain handed the photo to Rique who studied it with interest. Turning back round the Captain looked at Eric who met his gaze with fervour. "Kill them all, particularly Miss Kitty, unless of course our Commander has something to say."

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The crew aboard Amelia's ship stared in horror as a dozen laser canons were aimed at the ship, the energy building within them, preparing to fire. Jim glanced around him analysing the situation his hope failing as their helplessness descended.

"Mr Hawkins!"

Jim spun to see Captain Amelia sprinting toward him, Delbert following behind, his hand nervously adjusting the glasses perched on his nose. Olivia turned to, a deviance lit in her eyes.

"Mr Hawkins, I have a favour to ask of you."

"Yes Captain."

"Take this map, use your coordinates, take one of the boats and find that device," she spoke with an authority Jim couldn't question yet he stared bewildered at Amelia as she handed him a small box containing the map. He wanted to ask where her change of mind came from but he barely had time to agree with her command. "And take Olivia. Go, now!"

* * *

The pirate Captain observed Commander Beaufort. Eric felt his heart rip inside his chest as he hung his head, his lips remaining sealed. He closed his eyes, unable to see the moment he destroyed his family.

Slowly the Captain joined Rique at the door. "Well what are you waiting for? Let's say hello to our adversaries."

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**This chapter was such a pain to try and finish, which is why it has about four endings. Plus it has set in motion Jim and Olivia, properly, finally!**


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